Articles
Healing from Trauma/Neglect/Abuse
Potty Training Your Relative Child, Part 1
Taking care of children who have experienced loss, chaos, or exposure to alcohol or drugs before birth can be a big job, especially when it comes to potty training. These children may face extra challenges to conquer potty training, but with understanding, patience,...
Life Skills to Build Capable Young Adults
When you're raising a grandchild, niece, nephew, or other young family members, you're not just stepping in — you're standing in the gap. Many of these kids carry heavy stories: trauma, abuse, family separation, prenatal substance exposure and more. You hold dear the...
Helping Kids Heal and Grow: The Power of Positive Childhood Experiences
If you’ve been reading articles on this site for a while now, you probably know about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). These are tough or scary things a child goes through—like abuse, neglect, or losing a parent. According to the Centers for Disease Control,...
Impacts of Prenatal Exposure to Alcohol and Drugs
Potty Training a Child Who Had Prenatal Substance Exposure
Potty training your young grandchild, niece, or nephew is a huge milestone in gaining independence for you all. Grandparents and relative caregivers may feel overwhelmed with where to start and how long it will take. Every child is different, and there is a wide range...
Helping Kids with ADHD Boost Their Mental Health
Many of the children you are raising have experienced painful losses or abuse. Others were exposed during pregnancy to alcohol or drugs. Still, others have both of those challenges in their history and are living with the impacts today. Those impacts may show up in...
Practical Help for Raising a Child with Prenatal Exposure or FASD
You love this funny, busy, and spunky kid who has moved into your home. Yes, they keep you on your toes and you feel new levels of tired that you haven’t felt in years. But it's pure joy when they conquer a new skill or find their voice. You are committed to...
Challenging Behaviors
Helping Your Tween or Teen Develop Their Whole Person
Does your tween or teen grandchild (nephew or cousin) act sullen, angry, illogical, and overly emotional? Do they engage in risky behaviors you never dealt with when raising your kids? You may struggle to understand this young person or feel connected to them because...
Encouraging Curiosity in Children
“Why does the plant need water, Grandma?” “How does that plane stay up in the air?” “What do birds think about when they sleep?” Does your grandchild (nephew, niece, or cousin) ask these questions? Do you feel frustrated, overwhelmed, or stumped by the many questions...
3 Essential Tips for Raising a Child with Brain Differences
Your grandchild with brain differences (like ADHD, prenatal substance exposure, autism, or learning differences) navigates the world differently than you do. Sometimes, those differences can make the days challenging for you all. However, if you can focus on these...
ADHD
Understanding ADHD and How to Support Your Grandchild at Home
Do you ever feel overwhelmed or confused by your grandchild's behavior? Do you wonder how to help them stay on task at home and school? It's common for kids impacted by trauma or loss to also struggle with challenging behaviors as they cope with the painful...
Tips for Raising a Child with Attention Issues
Some kids are simply more easily distracted than others. They have trouble focusing in school and at home. They may have a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or not, but you know that keeping their attention is a challenge. There are some dos...
Disrupting Birth Order
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Helping A Child Heal from Sexual Abuse
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School Issues for Foster & Kinship Kids
Helping a Disorganized Child Bring Order to their Schoolwork
Are you raising a grandchild who is struggling with school because they’re so disorganized? Does it seem like they never finish their homework and maybe can’t even tell you what their homework is? Several factors can impact the development of a child’s organizational...
Advocating for Your Grandchild at School
If you’re raising a grandchild, do you know when and how to speak up for them at school? Maybe your grandchild (or nephew or niece) struggles academically or often gets in trouble for challenging behaviors. This can make it especially hard to talk with their teachers....
Tips to Set Up Your Grandchild for Success in School
Your grandchild's (or niece's or nephew's) school experience will likely be very different from yours in some ways and similar in others. Some of us have happy school memories, like a favorite teacher, childhood best friend, or a fun field trip. Others have unhappy...
Technology/Internet and Our Kids
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Self-Care for Kinship and Foster Parents
Do You Have a Strong Support Network?
Raising your nephew, cousin, or grandchild can be a fantastic opportunity to support your extended family. You are providing a safe landing place for this child while their parents get back on their feet. The child is experiencing the emotional and physical safety,...
7 Signs of Caregiver Burnout and What to Do About It
Are you helping or supporting your extended family? Are you raising a grandchild, niece, or family friend while the child's parents get help? If so, you might be at risk for caregiver burnout. Caring for a child with significant learning challenges, problematic...
Considering Respite Care When Caring for Your Relative’s Child
Raising a child who has experienced trauma is demanding, intensive work. You are thankful to offer your home as a safe landing place for this child. However, they have challenging behaviors, sleep disruptions, or other struggles. You know you need a break but aren't...
Relationship with Child’s Parent
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Working Together For the Good of the Child In Your Care
Enjoying the Holidays When Raising a Relative’s Child
The holiday season is in full swing, with messages of joy, family togetherness, and bright, colorful celebrations of many different cultures and faith traditions. When raising a grandchild, nephew, or other relative child, the holiday season can be pretty stressful to...
Why Raising Your Grandchild Matters
When raising your grandchild or another loved one's child, it's easy to get lost in the weight of daily work. You are overseeing homework, monitoring screen time, holding the reins of this child’s daily schedule, and much more. However, sometimes, it helps to remember...
Building Healthy Communication with Your Tween and Teen Grandchild
It's a heavy responsibility to raise a young person who comes to your home after losing their parents or experiencing abuse and neglect. You want them to find healing and learn life skills to carry them into adulthood. You want to teach them skills to set them up for...
Raising Adolescents (tweens/teens)
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Supporting Healthy Relationships/Attachment
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This website was supported with funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families’ Children’s Bureau through the Improving Child Welfare Through Investing in Family grant #HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-CW-1921. The purpose of this grant is to provide an array of kinship preparation services and ongoing kinship supports, and provide shared parenting to build trusting relationships between all out-of-home caregivers and parents of children/youth in foster care to ensure parents and families remain actively involved in normal child-rearing activities.
This website is supported by Grant Number 90CW1149 (HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-CW-1921) from the Children’s Bureau within the Administration for Children and Families, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Neither the Administration for Children and Families nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse this website (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided). The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Administration for Children and Families and the Children’s Bureau.