Volume 18 | Issue 38 | September 27th, 2023 | |
News for Advocates of Children, Youth, and Older Adults from Generations United | |
TODAY: Special Announcement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Join the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) TODAY, Wednesday, September 27 at 3:30 p.m. ET for a briefing with Secretary Xavier Becerra and other Administration officials on foster care. Please see more event details below and be sure to register.
WHAT: White House Briefing on Foster Care
WHO: Secretary Xavier Becerra and other Administration officials
WHEN: TODAY, Wednesday, September 27 at 3:30 p.m. ET
WHERE: Register on Zoom
Please note that this briefing will be closed to members of the press.
We hope that you can join this special briefing, and please share this invitation with others who might be interested.
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Generations United in the News - Policy and Advocacy Update
Check out our latest Medium blog for a Kinship Care Month Policy & Advocacy update! The blog includes ways to take action to support Peer-to-Peer Supports, Kinship Navigator Programs, and legislative updates from Capitol Hill related to grandfamilies/kinship families. Read the blog here.
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Upcoming Webinar on Strengthening Cultural Responsiveness in Intergenerational Programs
Join Generations United and RRF Foundation for Aging on Thursday, October 5 from 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET for the online release of the new report Strengthening Cultural Responsiveness in Intergenerational Programs. This event will highlight the recommendations in the report and explore the challenges and successes of organizations that are embarking on a diversity journey and those that have already prioritized cultural responsiveness. We will hear from a panel of intergenerational program practitioners whose work focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Learn more about the speakers.
Register Today!
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Explore the What Is/What Can Be Digital Exhibit
Generations United welcomes you to What Is/What Can Be, our program, experience, and exhibit featuring the world of What Is and What Can Be as seen through the eyes of grandfamilies. The grandfamilies you meet in the exhibit are our inaugural group of experts, sharing their lived experiences and helping us to see, imagine, and create new futures.
Visit the What Is/What Can Be Exhibit here.
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New Report - Outdated Court Policies Can Leave Children Without a Legal Guardian
This new report from The Pew Charitable Trusts explains minor guardianship and the challenges associated with obtaining it and provides recommendations for states to make the process easier for families. Network Director Ana Beltran and Network Subject Matter Expert Heidi Redlich-Epstein participated in interviews to help inform this report.
Read the full report here.
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Program Spotlight - Opening Minds Through Art (OMA) | |
The goal of Opening Minds Through Art (OMA), a Generations United Program of Distinction, is to help build a society that values all people, including older adults living with dementia. OMA achieves this by building genuine friendships between people living with dementia and volunteers as they engage in art-making. People living with dementia (artists) are paired with volunteers (students, families, caregivers) who are trained to rely on imagination instead of memory and focus on remaining strengths instead of lost skills. By connecting people across generations via direct, regular interactions centered around the arts, they build positive attitudes about each other in a joyful way. OMA enables people living with dementia to assume new roles as artists and teachers and leave a legacy of beautiful artwork. Learn more. | |
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Each week, Generations United is spotlighting a recipient of our Intergenerational Program Certification. The certification is an annual recognition of outstanding programs bringing older and younger participants together and is based on rigorous standards of program effectiveness and sustainability. Learn more about the Intergenerational Program Certification here. | |
New Resource: Kin-Finding Toolkit | |
The Kin-Finding Toolkit features promising practices that have been helping child welfare agencies across the country increase their kin placement rates. Every practice comes with the necessary real-world tools, such as sample policy language and forms. Take away new strategies and resources to adapt for the needs in your area. Learn more about the toolkit by watching the recording of our September webinar, "Improving Your Results in Kin-Finding and Placement." Access the toolkit here. | |
Accepting Technical Assistance Requests | |
As always, the Network is accepting individual technical assistance (TA) requests from professionals who work in systems or organizations that serve kinship/grandfamilies. Fill out the TA request form to receive support from our team. Learn more and sign up to access our resources! | |
The Network is supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $9,950,000 with 95 percentage funded by ACL/HHS and $523,684 and 5 percentage funded by non-government sources. The contents are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACL/HHS, or the U.S. Government.
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Thank You to Our Members and Supporters | Thank you to Bert Hayslip, Cody Burch, and Joe Cuticelli for their contributions to Generations United. Thank you to all our members and supporters! Consider making a donation today to help unleash the potential of a society that values all generations. If you're an organization, join us! | | | |
Think Intergenerational - Funding Opportunities | |
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Life Comes From It is a grantmaking and movement-building circle that supports grassroots work led by people of color in the United States. Funding is provided for projects and collaborations led by people of color that focus on restorative justice, transformative justice, Indigenous peacemaking, and land-based projects. The aim is to support work committed to replacing criminalization and incarceration with alternative approaches to address violence and repair harm, and prioritizing peacemaking development and Indigenous initiatives led by Native people. Grants are typically unrestricted and for general operating costs. 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations or organizations with a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor are eligible to apply. Application deadline: None for introductions. Learn more.
AARP Foundation is seeking capacity building proposals for organizations to improve benefits access for older adults. With this Request for Application (RFA), AARP Foundation seeks to support local, regional or national partners to build their capacity to provide public benefits application assistance to adults age 50 and older, including at least one of the following benefits: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, Medicare Savings Programs (MSP), and Low-Income Subsidy (LIS)/Extra Help. Capacity building grants offer up to $50,000 to support direct service organizations in their efforts to work more efficiently and effectively with and for older adults. These grants are intended to aid organizational development at a structural level. The required pre-application deadline is October 3, 2023, and the invited full application deadline is November 17, 2023. Learn more.
America’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), a program administered by Reinvestment Fund on behalf of USDA Rural Development, works to improve access to fresh, healthy foods in underserved rural and urban areas. HFFI’s new Local and Regional Healthy Food Financing Partnerships Program will support public-private partnerships to establish and grow local, regional, or state food financing programs that provide financial and technical assistance to healthy food retailers (grocery and other markets) and food enterprises (food retail supply chain businesses). Up to a total of $30,000,000 is available. Grants to applicants will range from $200,000 to $3,000,000 depending on the type of activities proposed. The application deadline is 11:59 PM ET on November 3, 2023. Learn more.
If you have—or know of—any intergenerational funding opportunities, please send them to gu@gu.org.
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Think Intergenerational - Great Resources | |
Generations United Resources | |
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Strengthening Cultural Responsiveness In Intergenerational Programs is a new report from Generations United that highlights the intentional and creative ways that organizations combat systemic racism by prioritizing the voices and lived experiences of diverse staff and participants in their practices. Available in English and Spanish. Learn more.
Generations United has updated our Children Thrive in Grandfamilies Fact Sheet, a resource that provides key facts about how children do in the care of relatives and a list of research articles to support the facts. Learn more.
17 New State-Specific Adoption & Guardianship Comparison Charts Are Now Available! These comparison charts help grandfamilies understand the difference between adoption and guardianship for children leaving foster care to permanency with relatives, made possible with support from the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Learn more.
Sharing Our Space: A Toolkit for Developing and Enhancing Intergenerational Shared Sites is designed for individuals and organizations interested in creating an intergenerational shared site or enhancing services at their current site. Divided into 10 sections, the toolkit details every step of the development and operation process, from initial planning to sustaining long-term shared site programs. Learn more.
Making the Case for Intergenerational Programs provides rationale and facts to help make the case for intergenerational programs. It is based on a comprehensive review of the literature on intergenerational programs and highlights evidence-based findings on how intergenerational programs benefit everyone. There is also an accompanying fact sheet available in English and Spanish. Learn more.
Staying Healthy Across Generations: Vaccines are Essential for All Ages is an infographic that illustrates that vaccines aren't just for kids - they protect all generations, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Staying up to date on vaccines for the flu, pneumonia, and whooping cough is important to protect both older adults and children. Learn more.
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"If you have the opportunity to rethink what your next chapter looks like in retirement, place the relationship you can have with your grandchildren at the top of that list. I believe it can change the world."
Aaron Larsen, founder of GrandparentsAcademy.com
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We want Generations This Week to be a resource for you. Please send us any national news on intergenerational issues in addition to upcoming conferences, funding opportunities, research, reports, and webinars. You can connect with other intergenerational enthusiasts through our Facebook group. Please also let us know how we can improve! Email us at gu@gu.org. We'd love to hear from you! | |
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Treat Yourself GRAND!
As a reader of Generations This Week, you are eligible to receive a complimentary subscription to GRAND - The Lifestyle Magazine for Awesome Grandparents.
That's a $26 value for 12 issues delivered right to your inbox. Get valuable offers and inspirational articles like our column on GRAND Families, and more.
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