Kinship Care

This form is used when an adult relative may be eligible to register a student under kinship care.

Kinship care is often looked to when children must be separated from their parents, either voluntarily or by court order;

• Informal Kinship Care: Informal Kinship Care refers to an arrangement made by parents and other family members without any involvement from the court or child welfare system.
• Formal Kinship Care: Formal Kinship Care involves parenting of children by relatives, or someone who has a significant emotional relationship with a child not born to them, as a result of a determination by the court and/or the child welfare agency. The courts rule that the child must be separated from his or her parents because of abuse, neglect, dependency, abandonment or special medical circumstances. The child is then placed in the legal custody of the relative or the child welfare agency. If legal custody is granted to the child welfare agency, the relative provides full time care, protection and nurturing of the child as a relative foster parent.

An adult relative must complete a Kinship Care form and submit the form to the school along with a notarized affidavit from the parents or relative explaining why the parents are unable to care for the student. Along with a power of attorney and a letter from the Department of Social Services where the kinship provider lives stating that the kinship arrangement serves a legitimate purpose in the best interest of the student other than school enrollment.

The school will submit the form and supporting documents to Office of Student Leadership for recommendation.

The department of social services has a grant for Kinship Navigation. Once all of the paperwork is submitted, the department of social services will contact the care provider to begin the initial meetings. 

Kinship Care Form