Kinship Care Week 2026: Celebrating the families who keep children connected

This week Ireland marks its third Kinship Care Week, part of Global Kinship Care Week. Led by Kinship Care Ireland, a national programme of the charity Treoir, the week celebrates the grandparents, relatives and close family friends who step in to raise a child.

Kinship care is when a child is raised full-time by grandparents, relatives or close family friends because their parents are unable to care for them. It keeps children connected to their family, community and identity. Between 10,000 and 12,000 children in Ireland are growing up in kinship care. Without these carers, many of those children would need to enter State care. This year's theme is simple: #KinshipCareCounts.