When children are removed from their parent's home by the state, they can be placed with family or a close friend instead of a traditional foster home.

It's called kinship care and it's a common practice.

But kinship caregivers think grandparents or aunts and uncles don't have access to the same level of support that traditional foster homes do.

Here's more from Kentucky Edition's Clayton Dalton.

Kentucky's foster care system has something called respite care.

It's when certified caregivers provide foster parents a break from their duties.

Tatum able, an advocate who lived in the foster care system, told state lawmakers respite care is critical for both children and foster parents.

My foster family was afforded respite care, and it was amazing.

It was a great break for all of us to be able to get some time away from each other, especially when there was tension in the home or, you know, having six foster girls in one home that gets it gets pretty tricky.

And being able to have a break from each other, it it does wonders for a family.

And we were able to maintain such a healthy relationship to the point that I still speak with my foster mom to this day.

I love her, she's a wonderful woman, and I'm glad that I could have those breaks to regulate myself.

And I'm glad she got breaks to be able to regulate herself and handle family stress and problems that arise.

Before she was placed in a traditional foster home as a teenager.

She lived with her grandparents in a kinship care setting.

Respite care wasn't an option for them.

And after her grandmother passed away, her grandfather became overwhelmed.

My grandfather was offered no support from the state.

He became a shell of a person.

He wasn't the same, and it really took a toll on him.

It also took a toll on me.

And I became behaviorally complex.

If I had been given some sort of respite care, I'm sure getting a break would have allowed me to see things from my grandfather's perspective and vice versa.

For him to see through my eyes.

And I think it would have allowed us to stay together as a family, but unfortunately we weren't afforded that.

And I was placed into a behavioral health facility and then into foster care.

Some research shows that children placed with family members or close friends, rather than in traditional foster care, can have lifelong benefits.

It leads to more stable long term placements, and it leads to better behavioral and mental health outcomes for both the child and for the caregivers.

Abels request to the legislature was clear make respite care accessible to family members who step up to care for a child and provide permanent state funding for the expansion.

Kentucky has a shortage of foster homes, and State Representative Sarah Stocker encouraged people who are hesitant of becoming foster parents to consider offering respite care.

You know, as a former foster parent, I've had a lot of people over the years say, I don't know how you do that.

That must be so difficult.

And something that I always encourage people to do is to consider being rested.

It is a kind of a lower level commitment.

But the relief that it gives the families, the children to your, earlier comments is huge.

And it can really be a make or break situation for families who are already under so much stress.

Committee chair Samara Heffron also shared her intent to file a bill in the 2027 legislative session to create a foster care toolkit, which would outline best practices for caring for foster children in schools.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Clayton Dalton.

A report published in March by the State Auditor's office revealed operational failures in Kentucky's foster care system, particularly in the use of nontraditional placements for children such as state office buildings, hotels, and state parks.