H.Res. 771

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 771 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 771

Expressing support for the designation of September 2025 as ``National 
Kinship Care Month''.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 26, 2025

Ms. Kamlager-Dove (for herself, Mr. Bacon, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. 
Nunn of Iowa, Ms. Scanlon, and Mrs. Houchin) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

RESOLUTION

Expressing support for the designation of September 2025 as ``National 
Kinship Care Month''.

Whereas, in September 2025, ``National Kinship Care Month'' is observed;
Whereas kinship care is the full-time care, nurturing, and protection of 
children by grandparents, siblings, members of Tribes, godparents, 
stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers who have a family relationship to 
the over 2,500,000 children living in a kinship care arrangement;
Whereas death, incarceration, disability, parental substance use, military 
deployment, and incarceration are a few reasons causing grandparents, 
siblings, members of Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or fictive kin 
caregivers to step forward to raise children they did not expect nor 
plan to raise;
Whereas over one-third (35 percent) of all children in out-of-home care in the 
United States are placed with relatives without a parent in the home, 
and there is considerable variation in that percentage across States, 
ranging from a low of 10 percent to a high of 53 percent in kinship 
care;
Whereas, nationally, more than 131,490 children in foster care are formally 
placed in kinship foster care and more than 2,667,000 additional 
children are supported by kin caregivers outside of the foster care 
system in informal kinship arrangements;
Whereas, because there are approximately 18 children in informal kinship care 
arrangements for every 1 child in formal foster kinship care, 
grandparents, siblings, members of Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or 
fictive kin caregivers keep the foster care system from being 
overwhelmed and save taxpayers more than $4,000,000,000 annually;
Whereas kinship families comprised of grandparents, siblings, members of Tribes, 
stepparents, or fictive kin are not provided the same level of 
assistance and support as children placed in nonrelative or nonkin 
foster care;
Whereas COVID-19 both heightened the challenges for existing kinship caregivers 
and created new kinship caregivers due to parents dying or becoming 
disabled due to the virus leaving behind children who have been taken in 
by their kinship families;
Whereas Black children make up 14 percent of all children in the United States 
but comprise over 25 percent of all children raised by grandparents and 
23 percent of all children in foster care;
Whereas American Indian/Alaska Native children make up 1 percent of all children 
in the United States but comprise over 8 percent of all children raised 
by grandparents and 2 percent of all children in foster care;
Whereas kinship care enables children--

(1) to maintain family relationships and family heritage;

(2) to remain in their community; and

(3) to thrive;

Whereas research shows that living with relatives and fictive kin benefits 
children in a number of ways including--

(1) kinship care minimizes trauma;

(2) kinship placements improve behavioral and mental health outcomes;

(3) kinship care promotes sibling and other family ties;

(4) kinship families provide higher levels of permanency; and

(5) kinship care reduces the risk of homelessness and criminal 
involvement by providing an important and emotionally sustaining bridge for 
older youth;

Whereas kinship caregivers report tremendous satisfaction in caring for and 
raising children but face substantial challenges in accessing resources 
they need to care for their families, to avoid living in poverty, and to 
prevent children from entering foster care;
Whereas much remains to be done to ensure that all children have a safe, loving, 
nurturing, and permanent family, regardless of age or special needs;
Whereas there are Federal child welfare laws recognizing kinship care, and more 
than 40 States and the District of Columbia have over 300 laws related 
to kinship caregiving, making it clear that kinship care is acknowledged 
as the nationally accepted term for grandparents, siblings, members of 
Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers who are 
successfully caring for and raising children;
Whereas over 40 States are implementing kinship navigator programs and services 
that support grandparents, siblings, members of Tribes, godparents, 
stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers who are not foster parents;
Whereas the House of Representatives is proud to recognize the many kinship 
families in which children are raised by grandparents, siblings, members 
of Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers;
Whereas the House of Representatives wishes to honor the many grandparents, 
siblings, members of Tribes, godparents, stepparents, and fictive kin 
caregivers who throughout the history of the United States have provided 
loving homes for children to thrive;
Whereas National Kinship Care Month provides an opportunity to urge people in 
every State to join in recognizing and celebrating kinship families and 
the tradition of grandparents, siblings, members of Tribes, godparents, 
stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers in the United States helping 
raise children; and
Whereas States are increasingly relying on grandparents, siblings, members of 
Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers as foster 
parents, and are working to increase the percentages of children in 
supported kinship foster families: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) supports the designation of ``National Kinship Care 
Month'';
(2) encourages the Congress to enact policies to improve 
the lives of vulnerable children by supporting kinship families 
in the best interests of such children;
(3) honors the commitment and dedication of kinship 
caregivers and the advocates and allies who work tirelessly to 
provide assistance and services to kinship-caregiving families; 
and
(4) reaffirms the need to continue working to improve the 
outcomes of all vulnerable children through parts B and E of 
title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) and 
other programs designed--
(A) to support vulnerable families;
(B) to invest in prevention and reunification 
services; and
(C) to ensure that grandparents, siblings, members 
of Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or fictive kin 
caregivers who take on the role of kinship caregivers 
receive the necessary supports, including but not 
limited to Kinship Navigator programs.
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