When most people think about a child entering foster care, they picture the child moving in with strangers. But for many kids, their first stop is actually a relative’s home.
Kinship care is a common way for children to stay connected to family when they cannot live with their parents. It gives them the chance to hold onto their family, culture, and sense of self during a time when so much is uncertain.
These caregivers almost never ask for recognition, but this month, they deserve it. National Kinship Care Month is our chance to celebrate families who open their doors and help children stay close to the people they love.
The Families Who Say Yes
Every kinship placement starts with someone who gets a call and chooses to say yes.
Sometimes it is a grandmother who thought her parenting days were over. Other times, it’s an aunt, uncle, older sibling, or family friend who can’t imagine saying no. The call almost never comes at a good time or with a plan. It just comes, and they answer.
Saying yes often means changing your home, your budget, and your daily routine, sometimes with almost no notice. It means being there for a child during one of the hardest times in their life and giving them something priceless: the chance to stay with people who already know them and care about them.
Tennessee Puts Family First
In Tennessee, keeping children connected to their relatives is more than just a value. It is built into the system. When a child is removed from home, the Department of Children's Services first tries to place them with approved relatives or close family connections within 30 days. The goal is to keep children in a family setting, close to their community, and whenever possible, to keep siblings together.
The state also offers the Relative Caregiver Program to support families who take in a relative’s child. Through this program, caregivers can access services such as information and referrals, support groups, respite care, and family advocacy assistance.
However, even in the most loving kinship home, how a child arrives matters.
Going to Live with Family Doesn’t End the Trash Bag
When a child is placed with a family member or loved one, they can still show up carrying everything they own in a trash bag. The placement process happens fast. There is rarely time to pack, and rarely a proper bag to pack their belongings into, so a plastic garbage bag becomes the default. That happens even when the destination is a warm and familiar home.
For a child, that bag sends a message. It quietly says your things, and maybe you, are disposable. And that message does not soften just because the person waiting at the door is family. A child settling into Grandma's house deserves to walk in with the same dignity as a child settling in anywhere else.
Why My Bag My Story
For a child in transition, belongings are more than just things. They represent the few constants that carry over from one chapter to the next. A backpack or duffel bag becomes a small anchor, something that is theirs and stays theirs no matter where they go.
This is what My Bag My Story is all about. We give children sturdy backpacks and duffel bags instead of trash bags, so whether they’re moving into a kinship home or reuniting with their parents, they can carry their story with dignity.
Since the founding of My Bag My Story in 2019, we have donated over 16,000 bags to children across Tennessee. We work with more than 60 partner organizations to get these bags directly to kids entering and moving through foster care.
Kinship placements are part of that story too. Every relative who steps up is doing extraordinary work, and a bag is one simple way to help a child feel welcomed and valued as they settle in.
To learn more about the kids, the families, and the partners behind this work, visit MyBagMyStory.com.