DC KinCare Alliance (DC KinCare) supports and empowers relative caregivers (usually grandmothers) who raise Washington, DC’s most vulnerable and at-risk children in times of crisis when their parents are unable to care for them. The majority of their clients are Black women who reside in Wards 5, 7, and 8, the wards with the lowest incomes and highest unemployment rates. These wards also house the most affected children, most of whom live at or near the poverty level, have experienced trauma, and are at grave risk for poor physical, emotional, and educational outcomes.
DC KinCare addresses specific needs faced by these low-income, under-resourced communities of color, including the inability to access legal rights, economic security, housing, food, financial opportunities, healthcare, and other supports.
DC KinCare’s clients benefit from their three-pronged approach: 1) their volunteer law firm lawyers represent caregivers in custody, domestic violence, and adoption cases to ensure they have the legal rights to raise the children and keep them safe, including representing caregivers in applying for subsidies and support; 2) they conduct Caregiver Raise Me Up Groups for kinship families, and host informational seminars for Court and service providers about the legal rights and financial benefits available to kinship families; and 3) they advocate for laws and policies that increase the financial support available to kinship families.
DC KinCare has successfully advocated to remove barriers so that caregivers can add children in their care to their housing vouchers (thus eliminating the risk of homelessness); for a new policy expanding the category of caregivers eligible for the childcare subsidy; and for changes that reduce documentation requirements for kinship caregivers to be eligible for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. In the past two years, DC KinCare has implemented the Project Adopt pilot, which is focused on creating pathways to permanent adoption as an alternative to custody proceedings for kinship families.
Since 2017, DC KinCare has served over 1,000 relative caregivers raising over 1,000 Washington, DC children in more than 1,000 legal matters.
2025 Impact Grant: $100,000
