African-american kinship caregivers: Family service needs and permanency

This study examined the perceived family service needs of African American kinship caregivers who provided care to their grandchild/ren. The socio-demographic variables that characterize this sample are highlighted to provide insight into the circumstances surrounding their role as temporary or permanent caregivers. The sample was drawn from an intervention study of support group participants in Generations United and Brookdale Foundation in collaboration with the authors at Syracuse University. African American kinship caregivers in the study were mainly female (94.9%), their mean age was 58.67 years, 41.3% had completed a high school diploma and 28.6% had attended college, and 23.8% were married, 22.2% were divorced and 21.6% were widowed. The highest family service needs were for financial assistance and respite while the lowest was for individual counseling.