The study found that several informal kinship caregivers reported higher levels of stress due to their caregiver role and, importantly, that caregivers’ support networks helped them productively manage this stress by encouraging self-care practices. Their family and community members routinely reminded the kinship caregivers to care for themselves (in addition to the children in their care): They promoted caregivers’ efforts to regularly exercise, participate in faith-based activities, and spend quality time alone. The children for whom Black kinship caregivers provided care also played a vital role in promoting their self-care. Caregivers reported taking joy in providing care for their grandchildren and receiving expressions of appreciation from them. These positive activities to cope with stress stood in sharp contrast to activities reported by some caregivers (e.g., smoking and drinking alcohol) that placed them at greater risk for negative health and social outcomes.

Prevention and intervention services that aim to improve caregivers’ stress should include efforts to promote their self-care. Black kinship caregivers deserve resources and services to reduce their stress levels and advance their mental and physical health. Child welfare stakeholders should incorporate the lived experience of Black kinship caregivers (e.g., reported self-care behaviors) and use their social networks to ensure that resources and services are helpful and culturally responsive. Additionally, given that many kinship caregivers face financial challenges, social workers and other practitioners can work with Black caregivers to identify and access stress reduction activities in their communities that are free or have a nominal fee. Social workers and other service providers can also ensure that Black kinship caregivers are aware of—and understand how to access—the financial assistance that is available to them; currently, most kinship caregivers do not receive the full assistance to which they are entitled. Lastly, practitioners and policymakers can work with Black kinship caregivers to identify new and existing resources (e.g., education about health, managing conflicts with birth parents, engaging with school personnel, and other topics of significance) that can promote caregiver and family well-being.

Intentional efforts such as those outlined here can expand opportunities for Black kinship caregivers to engage in self-care practices—offsetting commonly shared feelings among the study’s caregivers of being overwhelmed by their caregiving responsibilities. Additional resources for kinship caregivers and their families, agencies, caseworkers, and policymakers interested in kinship care—including a video series that features Dr. Joseph Crumbley, a pioneer in the field of kinship care—can be found on the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s website.

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We would like to acknowledge and thank the authors of the article that served as the basis for this brief.

Footnote

¹ Kinship care, or the full-time care of children by relatives or (in some cases) fictive kin (e.g., godparents and church members), is a strategy that has improved outcomes for children who do not live with their birth or adoptive parent(s).

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