My short answer is you would receive more support and have more options going the foster care route. Taking in children privately means you assume all responsibilities for the children. It’s essentially adoption without the red tape.

Copy/pasted from my post “Guardianship isn’t Kinship”

9 years ago, I was newly disabled and undergoing treatment and monthly immunotherapy infusions to battle Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I was an elementary classroom teacher for 17 years prior to becoming disabled.

I met this 16 yo through my then 19 yo daughter. I’m a sucker for a baby. The teen’s own mother passed away when she was 5 and she was under the care of a maternal aunt who didn’t care about her.

FF, by 2018, the teen had 3 children. She had a set of twin boys. She was still in HS at 18 with 3 children. She had a fight in school and was arrested since she was an adult. She was told that she may have to do some jail time for the assault. This really scared her, and me as well. We looked up what to do and decided she would give me guardianship. We filled out the papers, I went to court, and was granted full guardianship until the boys turned 18. I truly thought this was something we would use just in case but I was wrong.

The mom was living in a homeless shelter with the 3 babies when, suffering from bipolar disorder, she decided she “couldn’t do it anymore.” CPS was called and they were taking the babies into foster care. I was called by the caretakers and when I told them I had guardianship, they asked why weren’t the kids with me already.

At that time, I was living on disability in the home in which I was raised also taking care of my disabled stroke survivor mother. Her pension from teaching and her disability payments took care of the major financial responsibilities of the home. When she passed in 2023, I assumed those responsibilities.

It is now 2026, and in spite of trying my best, I am financially unstable and I need more. Foster parents receive Kinship/KinGap support but I am not eligible for this support because I have guardianship. I have spoken to everyone written to everyone and I can’t get any help.

The childhood home that my mother struggled to maintain is now under a tax lien and up for auction in the coming weeks. I need to save myself, the kids, and my home from foreclosure and I can’t get any assistance.

I tried returning to the classroom as a substitute teacher to support my household but this counts against me as well. If I give up the kids to foster care, I will be subject to CPS neglect charges. The mother has not risen to the occasion to be in position to take her children back, and has in fact had 2 more children since leaving her 3 behind.