North Dakota Kinship Caregiver Support Groups and Respite Care

You Are Not the Only Grandparent Doing This

ND HHS estimates 10,000 children are in kinship care across North Dakota. Behind that number are thousands of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and older siblings who took on parenting responsibilities they did not expect. The financial programs get most of the attention, but the emotional weight of kinship caregiving — grief over a child's family situation, exhaustion, loyalty conflicts with your own adult children — needs support too.

North Dakota offers two main pathways for non-financial caregiver support.

Family Caregiver Support Program (Title III-E)

Funded under Title III-E of the federal Older Americans Act and administered by ND HHS Adult and Aging Services Division, this program serves older relatives (not the child's parents) aged 55 or older who care for a child under age 18. North Dakota also requires the caregiver to live with the child full time and provide 24-hour care without another caregiver living in the home.

The program does not issue monthly cash grants. Instead, it provides:

• Counseling: Individual sessions focused on caregiver stress, family dynamics, and coping strategies
• Support groups and training: Peer groups where you connect with other kinship caregivers, plus workshops on topics like childhood trauma, managing difficult behaviors, and navigating school systems
• Respite care: Temporary relief so you can attend a medical appointment, take a break, or handle personal errands. Respite can be in-home or out-of-home.
• Supplemental services: Limited help with the cost of items such as incontinence supplies and assistive devices, including shower benches or safety rails, coordinated through the SFN 165 Caregiver Option Plan

The age-55 requirement applies to the caregiver, not the child. Caregivers aged 55 and older who care for an adult relative (aged 18 to 59) with a disability also qualify.

Contact ND HHS Adults and Aging Services to connect with Title III-E services in your area.

Kinship-ND Navigation and Referrals

Even if you are under 55 and do not qualify for Title III-E, Kinship-ND provides navigation support and referrals to community resources. Kinship Navigators connect caregivers with local support groups, parenting education, and crisis intervention resources.

Kinship-ND does not run its own support groups, but it serves as the hub that connects you with programs operating in your region — whether that is a grandparent support circle in Fargo, a tribal family services program on Standing Rock, or a faith-based family ministry in a rural county.

Why Respite Matters

Respite is not a luxury. Kinship caregivers are disproportionately older adults, many with their own health conditions, who suddenly have full-time childcare responsibilities. A 68-year-old grandmother raising a 4-year-old needs occasional breaks to manage her own medical appointments, maintain her health, and sustain the energy that caregiving demands.

Respite through Title III-E is not the same as childcare — it is designed as temporary relief for the caregiver, not as a regular childcare arrangement. For ongoing childcare needs, the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) is the appropriate resource.

Finding Local Support

Rural North Dakota caregivers face particular isolation. If you live in a multi-county Human Service Zone far from Bismarck or Fargo, in-person support groups may be limited. Ask your Kinship Navigator about phone-based or virtual peer groups, and check whether your regional Community Action Agency offers family support programming.

The North Dakota Kinship Financial Help Guide includes a directory of every Human Service Zone and key contact numbers for Kinship-ND, Legal Services of North Dakota, and the Family Caregiver Support Program — so you have the full resource list in one place.

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