Shelli Brooks got custody of her granddaughter 10 years ago, when the girl was barely more than a week old. She’s taken care of her ever since.

Eight years later, Brooks would get custody of her granddaughter’s younger brother, who was 4 years old at the time. Tasked with caring for a second child, Brooks reports that she “spiraled.”

“I was very overwhelmed suddenly with a 4-year-old,” Brooks recalled. “We’d kind of gotten through all that other stuff and were beginning to be independent, and then now we’re not again.”

Brooks, who works three jobs, recalled the feelings of hopelessness caused by her added responsibilities. It was an experience she struggled to discuss about with others because “unless you’re living it and experiencing it, it’s hard to talk to anybody else who can truly relate. … You don’t know how anybody feels until you’ve walked in their shoes.”

Brooks is part of what’s known as a kinship relationship, a broad term referring to anyone raising a child who is not his or her own. Kinship relationships can be between a child and family members — like grandparents, aunts or uncles — or a non-related individual, who is usually close with the child prior to the relationship change.

Relief would later come for Brooks in the form of a local support group that she helped found. Known as Kinship Caregiver Café, the group unites other local kinship families for monthly meetings at Crossroads Christian Church, where they can share experiences and recognize that they’re not alone in their struggles.

The kinship family structure may be unorthodox, but it is anything but uncommon.

This year, Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted signed a proclamation recognizing September as Grandparent/Kinship Month, acknowledging that, in Ohio, “more than 297,000 children under the age of 18 live in homes where the caregivers are relatives other than their parents, and of these, more than 189,000 live with grandparents.” The two recognized “Ohio’s supportive statewide network that is increasing awareness of resources available to grandparents and kinship caregivers.”

In Jefferson County, the children services division of the Jefferson County Department of Job and Family Services is responsible for investigating and responding to reports of child abuse, neglect or dependency.

Susan Young, Jefferson County children services kinship care coordinator, said the division may intervene and place a child in another’s care for a number of reasons, including parental drug use and physical or sexual abuse. If a child’s parents are deceased, incarcerated or cognitively incapable of caring for the child, that may also necessitate a placement.

Children could also be part of a “safety plan,” or a voluntary agreement between the parents and children services, wherein custody is not officially transferred, but the parents identify another party they think the child should be with indefinitely for safety purposes.

“(The term) ‘kinship care’ is kind of an umbrella for both relative and non-relative,” Young said, adding, “There may be a coach, there may be a neighbor, there may be a church member. It could really be anybody who’s connected to the child who’s able and willing to step up. (Job and family services) is really trying very hard to find relative or kin, if needed, before placing in foster care. That’s not always possible, but that certainly is our goal because we know that the connections that child has are extremely important.”

Young said it is difficult to pin down how many kinship relationships exist in Jefferson County, considering not every case reaches children services. A greater number of cases likely reaches job and family services to utilize its benefits, she said, and another percentage of caregivers simply operate on their own.

Unlike in foster care situations, kinship caregivers are typically untrained and thrust into their positions unexpectedly, Young said.

Finances, physical accommodations and time commitments can all become strained by the sudden addition of a child into the family. Grandparents in these situations, who are mostly 65 or older, have difficulty adjusting from a retirement mindset to parenting, and they often feel excluded from social events due to childcare responsibilities, leaving them feeling isolated.

Additionally, the “grief and shame that comes with changing family relationships” has a profound effect on the caregivers and children, Young said.

Brooks, who works three jobs, needed a place where she should find like-minded support in the midst of those types of issues.

More than a year ago, she was told no such kinship caregiver support group existed in Jefferson County. So, she turned to her pastor at Crossroads Christian Church, who suggested she start her own. The church’s children’s ministry director pooled together another four church members who were also kinship caregivers, and the small group began meeting together.

The group was good, but it “needed direction,” Brooks recalled. That’s when Beth Rupert-Warren of the Jefferson County Resource Network connected Brooks with Christy DeVore of the Corporation for Appalachian Development, a nonprofit resource and referral agency dealing with early childhood education, weatherization and grandparent and foster care programming.

Already discussing with JFS about creating a kinship support group in Jefferson County, COAD decided to utilize its funding sources to benefit Brooks’ group, which uses the Parent Café model.

With that model, participants are presented with a main topic of discussion related to kinship caregiving, including managing finances, self-care and time, said DeVore, who helps guide discussions. Participating caregivers break into small groups to share their experiences and discuss the topic.

“Families can … engage in that meaningful conversation with one another, to know that they are not alone, that they do have the support and that they can back each other and share information with each other,” DeVore said. “It’s to focus on strengthening these families and work on building the protective factors that they need to get through each day and keep going.”

COAD also pays to provide food and childcare at the meetings — two common barriers that, if not available, prevent caregivers from being able to attend. Children can eat while there and interact under the supervision of a local first aid-certified, background-checked childcare professional, DeVore said, adding that it’s important for the children of kinship relationships to interact with one another so they realize there are others like them.

Kinship Caregiver Café’s first meeting with COAD facilitation and support occurred Sept. 17 at Crossroads Christian Church, which is permitting the use of its building. The group will meet every third Tuesday of the month from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and it is open to any kinship family.

Rupert-Warren has committed to attending meetings, acting as a resource officer and directing caregivers to services they can leverage.

JFS and children services wants to spread awareness of and support Kinship Caregiver Café, Young said, noting the resources that may be available for caregivers. With an approved home survey, a relative caregiver could receive a stipend for up to six months and have medical care covered through the kinship support program, having the option to apply for custody or become a licensed foster parent by the end.

Additionally, JFS has a number of income-based benefits including childcare assistance that individuals may be able to utilize.

Brooks said it’s been great to see pieces falling into place for the support group, and she believes it will begin to grow and make an immensely positive difference in the lives of caregivers, like herself.

“I feel joyous over it because I know what a lonely, lonely spot I was in when I began it,” Brooks said. “It’s been a huge group effort. It’s been good for all of us.”