Becoming involved in raising a relative's child: reasons, caregiver motivations and pathways to informal kinship care

ABSTRACT Interviews with 207 informal kinship caregivers describe a dynamic process that influences how children come to live with a relative other than their parent. This process involves three overlapping and often simultaneously occurring factors: (1) the reasons the children's parents were...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child & family social work 2009-08, Vol.14 (3), p.300-310
Main Authors: Gleeson, James P., Wesley, Julia M., Ellis, Raquel, Seryak, Claire, Talley, Gwen Walls, Robinson, Jackie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Caregivers
Child care
Child placement
Child rearing
Children & youth
Families & family life
Family Policy
Family Relationship
Family studies
informal caregiving
Kinship
kinship care
Kinship structures
Kinship systems
Motivation
Parents & parenting
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Summary:ABSTRACT Interviews with 207 informal kinship caregivers describe a dynamic process that influences how children come to live with a relative other than their parent. This process involves three overlapping and often simultaneously occurring factors: (1) the reasons the children's parents were unable to care for them; (2) the caregiver's motivation for assuming responsibility for the child; and (3) the pathways or routes that children took to the caregiver's home. Understanding these factors and their mutual and simultaneous influence is important as we shape policies, programs and interventions to support families as they consider whether to care for a relative's child and once they assume this responsibility.
ISSN:1356-7500
1365-2206
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2206.2008.00596.x