Children Thrive in GrandFamilies
Summary
More than 2.5 million children across the U.S. are raised in grandfamilies (also known as kinship
families). These are families in which grandparents, other adult family members, or close family
friends are raising children, with no parents in the home. The parents are not caring for their
children for many reasons, including parental substance use, incarceration, military deployment,
severe disability, deportation, teenage pregnancy, or death. When children cannot remain in
their parents’ care, research shows they do best in grandfamilies.
Source: Generations United (2023). Fact Sheet: Grandchildren Thrive in Grandfamilies.