Support for Relative Caregivers in Wisconsin
As a relative caregiver, you may be stepping into a parenting role unexpectedly. At the Wisconsin Family Connections Center, we offer dedicated support for relative caregivers—including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other kin—across Wisconsin.
This page guides you to virtual support groups, tip sheets, local programs, and practical resources to help you navigate this journey with confidence and compassion.
Virtual Peer Support Groups
KINnect: Relative Caregivers of Children, Wisconsin
Join our safe and supportive spaces, designed specifically for Wisconsin relative caregivers to connect, learn, and grow together.
Trauma Informed Parenting Virtual Support Group
Focus on strategies for parenting children who have experienced trauma.
New Resources
Kinship Legal Toolkit
Created by the American Bar Association, with grant funding from the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, this toolkit offers strategies and tools to assist legal professionals in working with families and kin involved with the child welfare system. (November 2025)
Oneida Nation Fact Sheet for Kinship/Grandfamilies
This fact sheet includes national data and information on the Oneida Nation’s tribal-specific programs that can assist kinship/grandfamilies. Oneida Nation refers to the adults in these families as relative caregivers. GrandFacts fact sheets for each state and the District of Columbia are also available online. (June 2025)
Kin Mobilization Learning Collaborative
The Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network has partnered with its Subject Matter Expert, Marina Nitze of the Child Welfare Playbook, to host a learning collaborative on kin mobilization, which includes kin search and engagement. Each session focuses on one practice from the Network’s/Child Welfare Playbook’s Kin-finding Toolkit, and guest speakers share how they have implemented these strategies at their agencies around the country. This page also includes links from past sessions.
Grandfamilies and Kinship Support for LGBTQ+ Youth
This tip sheet provides background information on gender identity and sexual orientation, answers to two frequently asked questions, and links to additional resources and information. (November 2024)
When to Share Parenting in Kinship Families Who Have Adopted or Obtained Guardianship
This new tip sheet from the National Center for Enhanced Post-Adoption Support provides nine questions and associated criteria developed by Dr. Joseph Crumbley to guide post-permanency and kinship care professionals in assessing whether shared parenting is a viable option for birth parents and kinship caregivers. (October 2024)
6 Great Things about Kinship/Grandfamilies
When children cannot remain in their parents’ care, research shows they do best with grandparents or other kin caring for them. Here are six reasons we celebrate grandparents and other kin caregivers all year long. (September 2024)
Supporting Kinship/
This resource provides an introduction to the effects of parental substance use on kinship/grandfamilies, followed by strategies and resources to help them cope and thrive. (August 2024)
Finding and Paying for Child Care
Long waitlists, high costs, and limited choices make finding childcare challenging for most families. For the 56% of kin caregivers who are in the workforce and didn’t plan or expect to raise the children in their care, this task can be even more difficult. Your help navigating the childcare system will save kin caregivers time, stress, and possible lost income. Many grandfamilies immediately need child care and have no idea where to turn. (June 2024)
Kinship/
As the children in their care enter their senior year of high school, kin/grandfamily caregivers will be thinking about what comes next, including, potentially, higher education and how to pay for it. Download this tip sheet from the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network to learn more. (May 2024)
Wisconsin Kinship Navigator
The Kinship Navigator Portal can be used by any relative caregiver throughout the state to identify services and resources available to them based on their specific caregiving situation. Caregivers will be asked to answer a set of questions specific to their situation, and based on those answers, they will be provided with an array of information about their eligibility for various programs. You can also download the Kinship Navigator Guidebook (PDF).
UPDATED Wisconsin KinFACTS Information
Support Group Discussion Kits
These kits have been designed to help support group leaders or facilitators host valuable connection events:
Our thanks to Celera Systems LLC for their financial support for these kits!
Recorded Trainings
Resources for Age 55+ Relative Caregivers of Children A practical, resource-rich webinar from GWAAR and the Respite Care Association of Wisconsin covering programs, grants, and support services available specifically for older relative caregivers — so you don’t have to navigate it alone.
Relative Caregiver Series A curated learning path for relative caregivers navigating the shift from grandparent, aunt, uncle, or sibling to primary caregiver — with webinars designed to inform and support you as you help the children in your care heal and thrive.
Downloadable Handouts
Explaining a Parent’s Absence as a Relative Caregiver: Practical language and tips for grandparents and other relative caregivers navigating honest, age-appropriate conversations with children about why a parent isn’t there.
Virtual Resource Kit: Relative Caregiving A comprehensive collection of resources supporting grandparents and other relatives who have stepped into a primary caregiving role — covering the emotional, legal, and practical dimensions of kinship care.
Practical Tip Sheets
Getting Started as a Relative or Kinship Caregiver: An essential guide for relatives stepping into a caregiving role for the first time — covering the key questions, early decisions, and first steps on the kinship care journey.
The Changing Role of Caregivers: Grandparents Practical insights and advice for grandparents who have taken on the role of primary caregiver — navigating a shift that is both deeply loving and genuinely complicated.
The Emotional Journey of Relative Caregiving: An exploration of the full range of emotions — grief, love, frustration, and pride — that grandparents and other relatives experience when they step into a primary caregiver role.
Navigating Family Relationships as a Relative Caregiver Guidance for relative caregivers on managing the significant changes in family dynamics that come with stepping into a primary caregiving role — and how to find your footing.
Relative Caregiving E-Series
An e-series is a collection of emails on a specific topic sent to your inbox once a week. These emails will include information, resources, and tips to support you on your caregiving journey. It’s like a mini-lesson via email that you can read and use on your own time, and it’s completely FREE!
This e-series is on relative caregiving. Join us on a four-week journey of learning common questions and answers about the changing role of grandparents in kinship care. Although this e-series was intended for grandparents, some tips and strategies are useful for any family member involved in kinship care.
No Matter What Families Videos
The No Matter What Families YouTube channel is created and maintained by the Coalition for Children, Youth & Families. It is designed to encourage families to seek help and support when they feel hopeless and alone. The website features real stories from real people, ultimately providing inspiration to help struggling families make connections that will help build their strength and resilience.
- Kinship Brings Change: Parenting can happen fast. Just ask Tiffany and Pennie, who quickly became caregivers to Tiffany’s 14-year-old nephew with very little notice or preparation. In this No Matter What Families video, they talk about the challenges and experiences they had providing kinship care.
More Resources & Links
Resources in Wisconsin
- Bureau of Aging & Long-Term Care Resources: Access point to a variety of information on programs and services in Wisconsin for older people and caregivers
- FoodShare Wisconsin: Provides extra food dollars to people with limited financial resources (800-362-3002)
- From the Wisconsin Department of Health Services: Guide to Applying for Wisconsin’s Health, Nutrition, and Other Programs
- Home Energy Plus: Provides information about Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance and Wisconsin’s Weatherization Programs available to households with limited income (866-432-8947)
- Kids Matter, Inc.
- Kinship Care Coordinators in Wisconsin
- Wisconsin BadgerCare+: An insurance program for all children (up to age 19) who do not currently have access to health insurance, pregnant women, parents, caretakers, and foster families with limited financial resources (800-362-3002)
- Wisconsin DCF Kinship Care Program: An overview of the state kinship care program with contact information for each county’s Kinship Care Coordinator(s)
- Wisconsin Shares: Child Care Subsidy Program (W-2 Child Care) helps eligible parents pay for childcare (888-713-5437)
- Wisconsin WIC Program: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, which provides supplemental nutritious foods, nutrition and breastfeeding information, and referral to other health and nutritional services (800-722-2295)
National Websites, Resources, And Support Organizations
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- AARP Grandfacts: A State Fact Sheet for Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Children: A list of county and regional programs and support groups can be found in this comprehensive resource
- Casey Family Programs Kinship Care Resources
- Child Welfare Information Gateway – Kinship Care and the Child Welfare System
- Generations United
- National Caregiver Family Support Program
- Relevant Training for Kin Caregivers & Those That Work With Them
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