Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina hosts Kinship Care Day

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Tags: Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina , Foundations

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More than 70,000 families in the South Carolina are living in a kinship care situation, which is when a family member takes care of another family member's child. The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina recently hosted Kinship Care Day at the State House to show support for Senate Bill 191, which focuses on supplying the same support for kinship caregivers as foster parents receive.

The foundation, which is a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System, launched the Kinship Care Initiative in 2014 to help improve kinship families’ well-being, resources and services.

Cola Daily in Columbia, South Carolina, covered the event. The full text of the article is below or available here. Columbia's 7 News was also there. Click here to watch the news report.

Cola Daily: Kinship Care Day at State House to support families taking in related children

By Terry Ward

The number of children in South Carolina living with grandparents, relatives, or family friends is skyrocketing.

Because of that, the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina presented Kinship Care Day at the State House, Tuesday.

Part of the reason for the rally was to show support for Senate Bill 191, which is advancing in the State House. The bill focuses on supplying the same support for kinship (related) caregivers as foster parents receive.

In the state, 74,000 children live in kinship care (living with relatives) compared to 4,600 children living in state custody, according to HALOS, a partner of the Sisters of Charity Foundation.

Yolanda Smith, Marcus Lattimore’s mother and Vice President of the Marcus Lattimore Foundation, was at the State House event Tuesday and shared her kinship experience as the keynote speaker. Smith said relatives are stepping up to help children whose parents are unable to care for them, but many times they don’t have the financial means to take on the responsibility. Senate Bill 191 will help them.

Tom Keith, president of the SOC Foundation explained some of the efforts being made to help.

“The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina’s Kinship Care Initiative was established in 2014 to bring attention to the incredible strengths and challenges that kinship families face,” said Keith. “Through this initiative, we seek to increase permanency, stability and livelihood of kinship families so that children across South Carolina live in safe, loving homes.”

He also said support for Kinship Care Day is great and families from around the state to advocate for children.

The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina Sisters’ mission is to address the needs of the poor and undeserved throughout the state of South Carolina. Through the strategic use of resources they seek to reduce poverty through action, advocacy and leadership.