Nevada’s Foster Kinship Helpline

A Kinship Navigator Intake Coordinator will be available by phone to answer your basic kinship questions, refer you to resources, and set up an appointment with a Foster Kinship Family Advocate for a family evaluation and additional services.

Our helpline hours are Tuesday-Thursday 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM; Friday-Saturday 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM.

Foster Kinship helpline is not a crisis or emergency line. If you are facing an urgent situation due to a lack of resources, call or visit Nevada 2-1-1.

If you need to report child abuse or neglect in Nevada, please call the appropriate child abuse hotline:

• Clark County Department of Family Services: (702) 399-0081
• Washoe County Human Services Agency: (775) 785-8600
• All other Counties in Nevada: Division of Child and Family Services: (833) 803-1183

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Q: What Services do Kinship Caregivers Need?

A: Many individuals who step in to raise their relative’s child or children are unprepared. They may lack the short-term financial ability, an understanding of the educational, medical, and legal systems they will be required to navigate for the child or the knowledge of their options.

In most cases, kinship caregivers are dealing with a family system that is broken on some level, and keeping the child safe will mean sacrificing some of their own comforts.

In 2008 the Junior League of Las Vegas compiled a report entitled “Kinship Care in the Las Vegas Valley.” 50 kinship caregivers contributed to conversations about their needs in Vegas. The specific needs they stated are:

• A safe place to come together
• Vouchers for diapers
• Legal services
• Place for seniors and children to live (lots of senior housing does not allow children)
• More awareness of kinship “problem”
• Computers for caregivers to utilize with children
• More education
• More voice in the “system”- not just called on when system determines a problem.

These results of this report were the starting place for designing Foster Kinship’s services, as we aim to “stand in the gap” for caregivers and provide the services they themselves are requesting. Where services are not already available in the community, we will work to provide assistance to this population.

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Q: How Many Children in Nevada are in Kinship Care?

A: Based on the U.S. Census, Annie E Casey estimates that 33,000 children are in kinship care in Nevada without a parent present in the home (2018), which would mean approximately 25,000 are located in Clark County, NV.

Nationally, it is estimated that of children in kinship care arrangements, 69% are being raised by grandparents, with 31% being raised by an aunt, uncle or another relative (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001).

Kinship FAQs - Foster Kinship

National Key Facts and Statistics

• There are over 407,000 children and youth in foster care, and 34 percent were placed with relatives or kin.
• The term kin encompasses both relatives (those related by blood or marriage) and fictive kin (those who are unrelated but have such a close emotional relationship that they are considered like family to children and youth).
• When children cannot remain safely in their home, placement with relatives and kin —both formally through the child welfare system and informally through family arrangements—can increase stability, reduce trauma, and help children maintain a sense of family, belonging, and identity.
• Investing in culturally appropriate services and supports for relative and kin caregivers may help reinforce a child’s cultural identity and traditions.
• The inclusion of kin and extended family members in case planning expands placement and permanency options for children and youth when in-home care is not feasible.
• Millions of children and youth live with relatives outside of the formal child welfare system. Kinship navigator programs can provide critical supports for relative caregivers, including connections to resources and benefits, financial and legal assistance, peer supports, and more.
• Relational permanency is fundamental to the well-being of children and youth.
• Maintaining relationships with relatives and kin can help provide a sense of belonging for young people in care.
• Exploring relational permanency can lead to legal permanence. Of all children and youth waiting for adoption, 25 percent were placed with relatives. Of those aged 14 and above, 14 percent were placed with relatives.
• Providing equitable services and supports to grandfamilies can positively impact placement stability and permanency outcomes for children and families. Grandparent caregivers are more likely to be older than age 55 (62 percent), less likely to be married (44 percent), and grandparent caregivers outside of the child welfare system are less likely than foster parents to have health insurance (28 percent).