Honoring Arizona’s foster and kinship caregivers on National Parents’ Day

Yadira Medrano

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Parenting in any form is hard. Parenting a child who has experienced trauma requires a deeper level of patience, specialized knowledge and community support. That’s why it’s critical that foster and kinship caregivers are not left to navigate this role alone.”

Opinion

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Parenting isn’t always a planned path. While many raise children by birth, there are also those who step in, step up and change a life forever. On National Parents’ Day, we celebrate all those who open their hearts to the responsibility, love and challenges of raising a child and that includes foster and kinship caregivers.

Across Arizona, there are close to 7,600 Arizona children in foster care due to circumstances that prevent their biological parents from caring for them. These caregivers may not have imagined themselves in a parenting role, yet they show up day after day, providing stability, compassion, and structure during some of the most uncertain moments in a child’s life.

Modeling parental love in unexpected ways

Foster and kinship caregivers embody the essence of parenting not through biology, but through action. They help with homework, attend school conferences, cook meals, manage tantrums and comfort children through trauma or fears. For children navigating separation, loss or abuse, this kind of presence can be transformational. These caregivers are often the first to show children what healthy, safe relationships look like.

They model love not through perfection, but through consistency. The decision to foster or care for a relative’s child is rarely as simple as it sounds. It’s often filled with emotional complexity, uncertainty and sacrifice. Yet, their ability to love a child through difficult behavior, rebuilding trust, and advocating for their well-being is what makes their role so vital.

The emotional reality

For many caregivers, the journey is deeply rewarding, but it isn’t without emotional weight. Grandparents, aunts, uncles or older siblings often face the challenge of balancing their personal lives with unexpected parenting responsibilities. Foster parents often live with the knowledge that their time with a child may be temporary, yet are still called to love and nurture unconditionally. These caregivers must hold space for both healing and heartache, which requires incredible strength and emotional resilience.

The support they need

Parenting in any form is hard. Parenting a child who has experienced trauma requires a deeper level of patience, specialized knowledge and community support. That’s why it’s critical that foster and kinship caregivers are not left to navigate this role alone.

They need access to trauma-informed resources, respite care, financial assistance and mental health services for both the children and themselves. At Arizona’s Children Association, families are surrounded by wraparound support including statewide information and resource referrals, legal resource information, support groups and help completing guardianship and benefit applications.

Depending on location, caregivers can also access assistance with court processes related to guardianship or adoption, advanced kinship education, and advocacy in schools, courts and health systems. These services ensure that caregivers are equipped and empowered to provide the safe, loving environments that children need to thrive.

Why it matters

When we invest in foster and kinship families, we invest in the future of Arizona’s children. These caregivers are often the bridge between chaos and stability, between uncertainty and hope. They help break cycles of trauma and show children what it means to be valued and protected.

On this National Parents’ Day, let’s broaden our definition of parenting to honor those who never expected to be parents, but became exactly what a child needed. Their contribution is quiet, powerful and essential.

Editor’s note: Yadira Medrano is Kinship Navigation Program Model director at Arizona’s Children Association, a Phoenix- and Tucson-based nonprofit founded in 1912 to serve children and families throughout the state. Please send your comments to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.