Examining the Lives and Needs of Child-Only Recipient Kinship Caregivers: Heroes Stepping up to Help Children

Only in the last few years have researchers begun to pay close attention to the child-only cases that fall under the provision of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. Few attempts have been made to talk directly to kinship caregivers to understand their day-to-day lives. This triangulated study utilizes multiple strategies to assess the needs of child-only recipient caregivers in one northeast county. There are two distinct child-only recipient caregiving populations: (1) Caregivers who have been designated as disabled and who are receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments; and (2) those caregivers who are not receiving SSI payments. Results find that the two populations are distinct and require different kinds of services and treatment. Overall, however, both groups receive very little in the way of support from the county Department of Social Services (DSS). Essential to the success of these families will be the ability of DSS to recognize their unique needs and to provide the necessary case management services required to meet both the needs of the caregivers and the children in their care. Implications for practice, caseload administration and case management are discussed. (Contains 4 notes, 2 tables, and 1 figure.)