"We saved thousands of South LA kids from foster care."
- Deanne D’Antignac

Every year thousands of children in LA County are moved out of the physical care and home of their biological parents who are no longer able to provide for their well being. Many of these children are placed in foster homes or group homes, but many are placed with a Relative Caregiver like Deanne D’Antignac – a grandmother, aunt, uncle or older sibling.

Kinship Care Makes Foster Care BetterStudies have proven that children placed in Relative Care are more likely to succeed in school and less likely to end up homeless or in jail than children placed in foster care. However, children placed with Relative Caregivers receive far less support than those placed with foster care agencies or with strangers.  

In 2000, South LA Relative Caregivers launched a campaign called “Family Care Not Foster Care!” to demand more resources for kinship families.  They have led the movement to improve the child welfare system by ensuring that Relative Caregivers are given the recognition and the adequate financial resources to care for children in need.

Over the past 10 years, South LA Relative Caregivers have won millions of dollars in resources to support kinship families from the state and the county. Recognizing the benefits of placing children with Relative Caregivers, LA County Department of Children and Families now relies on Relative Caregivers to care for the majority of children in DCFS and provides these families the same level of financial resources as foster care families.

South LA Relative Caregivers are now leading a campaign to ensure parity in mental health resources and other social services for the children in their care. Learn more about this campaign here.

Join our grandmothers, aunts, uncles and siblings and Be the Change in South LA!

Read more about our current campaign in the news here:

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