Kinship care can be either a formal situation or an informal agreement.
Informal kinship care arrangements occur without the involvement of the Department of Health and Human Resources. Formal kinship care is defined as relatives acting as certified foster parents for children in the custody of the state. Across the nation almost two million children are cared for by relatives. Relatives who take on this job often need help meeting the needs of children including the legal, financial, medical, educational, and emotional issues that come with this new role. Before accepting the responsibility of caring for a relative child, the following issues should be considered.