ALLEN COUNTY, OH (WLIO) - In an effort to keep her family together, a Lima woman stepped up to take care of her cousin's children.
Natalie McGee accepted a proclamation from Allen County Commissioners recognizing her commitment to these two boys. September is Kinship Care Month which brings sight to the efforts that relatives who have made a commitment to keep children in a familiar place and near people they know when they can no longer stay in the home. Allen County Children Services has 144 children in the care of relatives and thanks McGee for her love of the boys.
"Because we want to keep our kids in the same families so they can know their family and know their mother and everything. They needed my help. I didn't have any more kids at home so I needed them. It's a family thing. Everybody takes care of Jimmy and Jeremiah because they're the smallest in our family," said Natalie McGee, relative/kinship care provider.
Nationally, 4% of children are living with relatives or kinship providers. That is about 2.6 million. In Ohio, it's approximately 227,000 children with 183,000 living with their grandparents.
