The Network Connection

Overview of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe Kinship Parenting Program

This resource, produced in partnership with the National Indian Child Welfare Association, is intended to elevate the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe (PGST) Kinship Parenting Program. Other tribal nations and service providers can utilize the outlined practices as a guide as they develop or modify their own programming that best aligns with their community values, needs, and resources.

Monthly Resource

Supporting Kinship/Grandfamilies When Parents Have Substance Use Disorders

This resource provides an introduction to the effects of parental substance use on kinship/grandfamilies, followed by strategies and resources that professionals can share with kin/grandfamily caregivers to help them cope and thrive.

Resource Update

Helping Caregivers Address a Parent’s Absence

We heard from a support group facilitator, who noted that she and her support group participants found that the advice to reaffirm the absent parent’s love for the child didn’t always feel right or model healthy love. This insightful comment led us to modify the resource so that it now advises caregivers to reaffirm their love for the child and to only reaffirm the parent’s love if appropriate. If you have an idea for a resource or a comment on an existing resource, please use our form to reach out to us! We want all of our resources to be as useful to you as possible.

White House Convening on Child Welfare Transformation

On Tuesday, July 30, the White House held an engaging, thought-provoking Convening on Child Welfare Transformation. As part of a full afternoon, a “Kin First” panel featured Network Management Committee Member and Subject Matter Expert Sarah Smalls; Cheryl Miller, the Director of Children & Family Services for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe; and Network Director Ana Beltran. Jeff Hild, the Administration for Children and Families’ Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, facilitated the panel that elevated the strengths and challenges of kinship families and how the Administration, along with states, tribes, and local communities, is seeking to better support kinship/grandfamilies by listening to the true experts – family members. 

At the beginning of the convening, Administration on Children, Youth, and Families Commissioner Rebecca Jones Gaston announced six new questions and answers published in the Children's Bureau’s Child Welfare Policy Manual, including one clarifying that federal funds can be used to take fingerprints for criminal and child welfare registry checks necessary for all those seeking to become licensed as foster parents. The cost of necessary fingerprinting equipment, staff, and facility overhead is allowable as title IV-E administrative costs at the 50% rate. Costs of training staff in conducting fingerprinting may also be title IV-E claimed as training at the 75% rate. The Commissioner also announced the release of a Dear Colleague Letter on Supporting Kinship Caregivers, written in collaboration with the Administration for Community Living. Both agencies continue to model the importance of working across systems on behalf of kin.

For more information on these and other resources and guidance to help transform child welfare, the White House released a comprehensive fact sheet the day after the event.

Clarified Kin Definition Policy Added to the Child Welfare Policy Manual

Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

In addition to the updated policy guidance released in conjunction with the White House Convening, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and its Children’s Bureau (CB) separately announced an updated policy clarification published in the Child Welfare Policy Manual. The policy clarifies that title IV-E agencies have flexibility to support relative and kin caregivers by defining them broadly when administering various aspects of title IV-E programs. ACF and the CB encourage agencies to adopt a broad definition of kin, for example: individuals related to a child by blood, marriage, or adoption; extended family; individuals who have an emotionally significant relationship with the child; fictive kin; and relatives and kin defined according to tribal custom. Using a broad definition facilitates the title IV-E agency’s use of federal funding to equitably support children in relative/kin placements. It is also important to note that title IV-E agencies have the flexibility to use different definitions of relative/kin for different purposes – an agency, for example, could use one definition to meet federal requirements for the identification and notification of adult relatives when a child is removed from their parents and another one for licensing purposes.

Webinar – Criminal Background Barriers to Foster Home Licensing for Kin Caregivers

ABA Center on Children and the Law and Generations United

Thursday, August 29, 2024 at 2:30 p.m. ET

Most jurisdictions go well beyond federal requirements and prevent individuals from becoming foster parents for minor, non-violent crimes, barring loving kin (and non-kin) from serving as foster parents. The new federal rule allowing jurisdictions to implement separate, commonsense foster care licensing standards for kin strongly encourages jurisdictions to consider limiting their standards to Adam Walsh safety requirements. With renewed attention to unnecessary barriers that don’t contribute to children’s safety, more children can live with loving kin in equitably supported homes. Leave the webinar with resources and ideas of what you can do to address these barriers in your community.

Webinar – Respite Care Provider Training Curriculum: Lessons from the States

National Academy for State Health Policy

Wednesday, August 28, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. ET

To recruit and train the respite workforce, ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center, in partnership with the National Academy for State Health Policy and the Respite Care Association of Wisconsin, piloted a competency-based respite provider training and recruitment initiative in ten states. As a result of the pilot, this training is now available to all states, free of charge. In this webinar, learn about the results of the pilot and how to build a training and recruitment program for respite providers in your state by accessing the new National Respite Care Provider Training and Replication Toolkit.

Webinar – Shifting Towards an Inclusive Kin-First Culture: Focus on Grandfathers and Male Caregivers

Capacity Building Center for States

Tuesday, September 10, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. ET

In recent years, jurisdictions across the country have made their kinship practices more inclusive of male and male-identified kin caregivers. Many of these caregivers—including grandfathers, godfathers, uncles, brothers, and cousins, among others—will join jurisdictional representatives to share their experiences with kin caregiving in the child welfare system. Speakers will also shed light on the outreach and support needs of male relative and kin caregivers and on what a successful partnership between child welfare systems and the male kinship care community can look like. 

Webinar – Pathways to Success: K-12 Education Support for Kinship and Grandfamilies

Generations United

Thursday, September 19, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. ET

Join Generations United for the release of the 2024 State of Grandfamilies & Kinship Care report, “Pathways to Success: K-12 Education Support for Kinship and Grandfamilies.” This event will feature key findings from the report; conversations with caregivers, a school administrator, and advocates; insights into the interactive report website; and information about the upcoming release of a toolkit of practical strategies and tools for professionals in the field, created by the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network.

Report – Engaging and Supporting Kinship Caregivers

Annie E. Casey Foundation

This report is part four of a five-part series, Family Ties: Analysis From a State-By-State Survey of Kinship Care Policies. The Annie E. Casey Foundation worked with Child Trends to survey state child welfare administrators. The brief sheds light on state child welfare policies related to finding, informing, and partnering with kin and ensuring that kin are connected to the support and resources they need. While there have been tremendous advances in these areas, there are also notable gaps in the information shared and methods used for connecting with kin and in the availability of kinship navigation services — which are associated with higher rates of stability, permanent care arrangements, and increased safety for children. The brief offers recommendations for how states can expand investment in supporting and engaging kinship caregivers, including federal funding opportunities for kinship navigation programs.

Multiple Publications – Strategies to Improve Access to Behavioral Health Care Services Through Medicare and Medicaid

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

“Exploring Strategies to Improve Access to Behavioral Health Care Services Through Medicare and Medicaid: Proceedings of a Workshop–in Brief” summarizes three webinars convened in November 2023 and January 2024 that sought to share innovations and gather information from people who have experience navigating the intersection of behavioral health care services and public health insurance programs, whether as adults who accessed services for themselves, caregivers who accessed services for children, or behavioral health care providers. Expanding Behavioral Health Care Workforce Participation in Medicare, Medicaid, and Marketplace Plans provides information and recommendations to increase providers’ participation with public and marketplace insurance plans. Related publications include an Action Guide for Providers, a Policy Brief for States, and a Policy Brief for Federal Agencies.