Cindy answered an unexpected call one day from a friend in need of help. The friend’s sister had a 3-month-old son whom she was unable to care for, so she asked Cindy to care for the baby. Cindy and her husband, who already had a blended family of 3 children, made the quick decision to welcome the baby into their lives

Within a couple of days, Cindy and her husband not only had a baby in their home, but the state was also helping with some of the basic needs of new (and unexpected) parents, such as formula, a car seat, and a bed.

“It was an easy transition — as easy as it can be to go from having no baby to having a baby the next day,” Cindy said.

Cindy is one of thousands of adults in Texas providing kinship care, in which a relative or a family friend like Cindy provides care for a child when parents are unable to do so. Kinship care helps keep children connected to their extended families and their communities. During September, which is National Kinship Care Month, DePelchin celebrates kinship caregivers and the safe, loving homes they provide for children who need temporary care.

DePelchin serves kinship caregivers in multiple ways, such as helping kinship caregivers become licensed foster parents. For example, DePelchin staff may show the family how to demonstrate financial stability, or the staff may help the family pass a state-required inspection. DePelchin also provides kinship families with supplies, resources, and guidance they need after children enter their care suddenly.

Cindy connected with the DePelchin team after workers with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services gave her a list of organizations she could contact for assistance, and she has leaned on DePelchin for guidance since the baby arrived in her home.

Cindy’s own family and friends have rallied around her kinship journey; her adult children and her friends love to visit the baby. She also stays close to the baby’s extended family, including his mother.

To learn more about kinship care, please visit this page on the DePelchin website. Also, we are thankful for DePelchin’s donors who make it possible for us to work with so many families who provide kinship care. Please click here to donate and support the services DePelchin provides to children and families.

As foster youth age, their likelihood of being adopted decreases. Annually, several hundred of Greater Houston’s foster youth “age out” and must fend for themselves. DePelchin has launched two residential programs to help older foster youth and pregnant and parenting teens prepare for adulthood. Based on our successful transitional program for former foster youth (18-22), the new programs will help youth complete their educations, gain work experience, and prepare for independence.

On December 1, 2023, CenterPoint Energy Foundation provided a grant of $30,000 to support the following 3 DePelchin programs:

1. Supervised Independent Living (SIL) (serves former foster youth ages 18-22).
2. Transitional Living for Foster Youth (serves youth ages 14-18)
3. Residential Services for Pregnant and Parenting Teens (serves expectant and young mothers in foster care and their children)

For the existing SIL program, The CenterPoint Energy Foundation grant funded education support – completion of a high school diploma; assistance with navigating vocational training and certification and/or college, vocational assessments, assistance with job readiness, including coaching and training in soft skills, help with purchasing work uniforms and shoes, transportation to and from job sites, and online training programs. The teens also received life skills training: budgeting and banking, nutrition and meal preparation, credit management, personal health and hygiene, driver’s education, and related topics.

For the youth participating in the two new programs, located on the Today’s Harbor campus, the CenterPoint Energy Foundation grant provided on-site schooling as well as public education in partnership with LaPorte High School, vocational assessments, assessments with job readiness, including coaching and training in soft skills, help with purchasing work uniforms and shoes, transportation to and from job sites via Uber Teen, and online training programs, on-site childcare to assist teen mothers in completing their educations and engaging in employment. The funds were used to help program participants complete their educations, and when possible, earn early college credits towards associate’s degrees and/or certification in career fields of their choice, or completion of a college degree. They helped the youth gain work experience and vocational training so that they will successfully transition to adulthood and earn living wages. For the young adults (former foster youth), funds paid for items such as work uniforms and shoes, vocational testing feeds, transportation to and from work (bus passes; etc.), and education fees that were not covered by state stipends.