Welcome to Guardian Families

Guardianship parenting is a form of parenting that is greatly over-looked.  Guardian Families is a non-profit organization that has been created to bring light, support, recognition, encouragement and community to these families. 

Parents of Adoptive care and Foster care have a great deal of resources at the push of a button on the internet or with a couple of phone calls.  In recent studies it has been discovered that approximately 6.2 Million children are under guardianship care with no formal resources.

Understanding the Differences

Guardianship

Court appointed guardian parents assume the responsibility for both the physical and financial needs of the child. Guardians are typically a close relative of the child; grand parents, aunts and uncles.  In most cases the guardians have an emotional interest in the guardian child because they have observed the situation from the outside, prior to being awarded guardianship. Guardian parents sometimes face an overwhelming balancing act in caring for the guardian child and their own family.  In some cases the natural parents of the guardian child can make it difficult for the guardian parents as well as the child.  Guardian parenting has no organized system or community to plug into, in many cases creating a feeling that they are on this parenting path alone. 

Foster Care

Foster care is the term used for a system in which a minor has become a ward of the state, then placed in a private home that is operated by a state certified caregiver referred to as a "foster parent".  A child typically falls into the Foster Care system due to the lack of a creditable family member being able to step in as the Guardian for the child.  A Foster child in many cases, before reaching adulthood, may be placed in multiple homes.  However, some have resulted in adoption creating a permanent foundation for the Foster child.  The Foster parent is compensated by the state for their services.

Adoption

Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents. Unlike guardianship or foster care, adoption is intended to effect a permanent change in parental status.  Adoptive parents usually have no interaction from the former family or extended family unless it was decided to be an "open" adoption.