Kinship Care: A Lived Experience of Young Adults

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to describe the experiences of young adults in kinship care. Research on kinship care reveals that parental death serves as one of the basis for placing children in kinship or foster care. The theoretical perspectives used to guide this research were Bowen’s (1978) family systems theory. The participants of the study included three young adults who are living with kin due to parental death brought about by illness and car accident. The data were gathered via face-to-face interview. During the analysis, three themes emerged describing the living condition of young adults with the kin placement and environment namely: life circumstances, forms of support and valuing of relationship. Children have encountered challenges along with adjustment to the new environment. Due to strong support and acceptance received from kin, all participants were able to cope with it. All participants deeply emphasized the acceptance, sense of belongingness and motivation they felt from their kinship experience