September is Kinship Care Month in honor of those who are providing love and care to children that are not their own.

A kinship is when a family member or person with a family-like relation is deemed the primary caregiver to a child for a period of time. Kinships can be children with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, older cousins or even someone who is a family-friend.

In honor of Kinship Care Month, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services announced the launch of a new online resource for family members caring for children.

“Every child deserves to grow up in a safe and loving home, but there are far too many Ohio children that can’t remain at home because of parental substance use disorders,” Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said in a media release from the ODJFS. “This new resource adds to the supports available for kinship caregivers because the need is greater than ever.”

The resource is a website designed to answer questions, provide an interactive map to find local services, a calendar of training and events and a contact form that can link the caregiver to one-on-one assistance.

In May, Muskingum County had nearly 170 children in the foster care system.

Children Services works diligently to keep children’s lives as normal as possible when they are taken from their parents, David Boyer Executive Director of Muskingum County Adult and Child Protective Services, said in a previous Y-City News report. Typically, when a child is taken away from their parents the first option that Children Services addresses is placing the child in a kinship.

Kinships can be permanent of temporary depending on the needs of the family.

“Ohio has an estimated 100,000 grandparents and other relatives who have volunteered to care for children when their own parents cannot,” Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Director Kimberly Hall said in the release. “They have made a courageous, life-changing decision, and we are honored to provide this resource so that they can more easily access information and supports.”

According to the release, there are currently about 16,000 children in the care of county children’s services agencies. Of those 16,000 children about 4,000 children under the care of children’s services agencies are in kinships.

To learn more about the newly offered online resource for family members involved in kinships, click here.