This month, we are acknowledging Pride Month. Please read on to learn about our latest resources and news, as well as other news from around the field. | |
Looking Forward to Next Week's Generations United Conference!
If you’re joining us at the Generations United conference in Louisville next week, please make sure to say hello to the Network staff members who will be in attendance. If we don’t already know you, we’d love to meet you! If we’ve already worked together, we’d love to see you!
| | | | Since we launched our LinkedIn page in September 2023, we’ve been using it to share the latest news, data, and replicable practices and tools to support your work with kinship families. Follow us to keep up with our latest news between monthly issues of this newsletter. | | What's New From the Network? | |
Summer Nutrition Programs for Kinship/Grandfamilies
Created in collaboration with our subject matter experts at the Food Research & Action Center, this tip sheet answers several common questions about the Summer Nutrition Programs and Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer. We created this resource to provide information to both professionals and families. A Spanish version is coming soon!
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Oneida Nation GrandFacts Fact Sheet
Our partners at the National Indian Child Welfare Association have prepared another tribal fact sheet, in collaboration with Oneida Nation, and we have added it to the GrandFacts Fact Sheet page of our website. The fact sheet focuses on programs and services available from the Oneida Nation, and it is full of information and links that will be useful to kinship/grandfamilies and the professionals who work with them.
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KINSHIP MATTERS TO…
Outreach Brochures for Child Welfare
As part of our effort to encourage all government systems and nonprofits that interact with kinship/grandfamilies to coordinate with each other to better serve the families, we have been creating system-specific outreach brochures. Each brochure briefly introduces kinship/grandfamilies, explains how the families interact with the named system, and describes why cross-system collaboration would be beneficial. The idea is to raise awareness and educate individuals who are new to this topic. You can share these pieces with colleagues and potential partners in the named system to help make the case for targeted support and collaboration for kinship/grandfamilies. Our newest brochures are for child welfare. We already have brochures for aging, education, nutrition, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Family Resource Centers, and more are on the way. To access the brochures on our website, go to the “Who We Serve” tab and select the “We Serve Government Agencies and Nonprofits” page. Then, scroll down to the list of systems and click the link associated with the system of interest. Please reach out to us at info@gksnetwork.org if you would like printed copies of the existing brochures or access to the professional printing files.
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Network Director Ana Beltran had ongoing conversations with the reporter who wrote a compelling article about grandfamilies in The New York Times Magazine. The reporter later spoke during a WNYC public radio show and shouted out our parent organization, Generations United. The Network posted on LinkedIn about these great awareness-raising developments. | | Individual Assistance Spotlight | | | | The Network is responding free of charge to individual technical assistance (TA) requests from professionals who work in systems and organizations that serve kinship/grandfamilies. To request assistance on the array of issues impacting kinship/grandfamilies, please complete our request assistance form. | | |
We answer questions and respond to requests of all sizes. Some questions focus on a very specific topic and/or location, while others are much broader. Below, we share an example of a TA request and response.
Request
I am reaching out as a lived experience consultant. I am hoping to obtain some information about the engagement of kinship families in systems change.
Response
There is a lot to share when it comes to the engagement of kinship families in systems change. The Network engages two lived experts as partners and works with various lived experts to help guide our work. Lived experts support the Network’s technical assistance projects, share personal experiences during webinars and presentations, review the resources we develop before we publish them, and provide consultation on other projects. We strongly encourage agencies and organizations to hire lived experts as staff to provide peer support and general expertise, and to compensate lived experts for their time spent providing consultation and participating in activities like focus groups.
Here are two resources developed by the Network to help other organizations engage lived experts:
Additionally, Generations United has worked with and on behalf of kinship families through the National Center on Grandfamilies (Center) for more than 20 years. The Center conducts federal advocacy and supports kinship/grandfamilies in elevating their own voices to improve policies and practices that impact them. One of the Center’s primary initiatives is GRAND Voices, a national network of grandfamily caregiver advocates. Click here for more information on the Center’s work.
To make an individual request, please complete this form and we will get in touch.
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When Angela Tobin started Kinship Caregivers Connect in June 2020, she was still a student, fueled by a fellowship and $3,000 grant at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her lived experience with kinship care, combined with her background in occupational therapy and educational psychology, sparked something much bigger than she could have imagined at the time.
“It started with one support group,” Angela shared. “My parents—who are kinship caregivers—even came to the first meeting because I was scared no one else would show up.” But people did show up. And they kept showing up.
Now, the Ohio-based Kinship Caregivers Connect has grown into a thriving statewide community. They’ve served 300 kinship caregivers, see about 25 caregivers in any given week in their weekly support groups, and have a growing network of interdisciplinary guest speakers from the community. Their online model—once a hesitant experiment—proved to be the perfect format: flexible, accessible, and rich in connection. From trauma-informed care and legal guardianship to caring for children with disabilities, the discussions are as diverse as the caregivers who attend.
This growth was made possible, in part, because Angela sought support from the Network, which invited Kinship Caregivers Connect into a pilot program for grassroots organizations focused on building sustainability. Under the guidance of Tiffany Allen, formerly with Network evaluation partner Child Trends, Angela and three other leaders received tailored technical assistance—what Angela describes as part support group, part masterclass—that helped her gain skills to build her organization and introduced her to her own community of support.
Angela never misses a Network newsletter, attends many webinars, and accesses resources, but, when asked what has been most meaningful to her, she said, without hesitation: “A sense of community in the kinship world. They take such a human approach. You can feel how much they care. They bring people together so we’re not competing, but learning from each other. We’re all on the same team.”
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| Presentations by the Network | | | | |
The kinship/grandfamilies track at next week’s Generations United conference includes over 40 sessions!
- On Thursday, June 26, Network Technical Assistance Specialist Kylee Kern will be facilitating a panel during a workshop session called “Bridging Systems for Kinship Families: Idaho, San Diego County, and Oneida Nation of Wisconsin.” The panel will feature Jen Haddad of Idaho, Katie Gordon of San Diego, and Louise Padron of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin.
- Network Director Ana Beltran will be speaking during the “Legal Representation for Kin – Maximizing Opportunities” workshop session, which will also take place on Thursday, June 26. The session will be led by Network Subject Matter Experts Steven Jessen-Howard and Heidi Redlich Epstein, from the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, and it will also feature Celeste Miller, from the King County Bar Association in Washington state.
- On Friday, June 27, Ana will be speaking during the “Increasing Utilization of TANF Child-Only Benefits” workshop session. The session will be led by Brittany P. Mihalec-Adkins, of Network partner Child Trends, and it will also feature Laurie Tapozada, of The Village for RI Foster and Adoptive Families; Donna Rook, of the Rhode Island Department of Human Services; and Bette Hoxie, of Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine, Inc.
- Several other Network partners, subject matter experts, and leaders of Exemplary-designated programs will be presenting during the conference, as well!
| | | | On Monday, July 21, Network Technical Assistance Specialist Kylee Kern and Leland Kiang, of Network partner organization USAging, and will be presenting a Fast-Track Session at USAging’s 50th Annual Conference and Tradeshow. Their session is called “Kinship/Grandfamilies: Legal Issues, Options and Solutions.” | | What's New Around the Network? | |
HALOS Kinship Navigator Program Final Evaluation Report
Child Trends
| This new evaluation report from Child Trends finds that kin caregivers who participate in the HALOS kinship navigator program are more aware of the services that are available to them and how to access those services than caregivers who do not participate in the HALOS kinship navigator program. | |
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Two New/Updated Sets of Resources: Medicaid State Fact Sheets and State Profiles for Dual-Eligible Individuals
KFF
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The Medicaid State Fact Sheets, created and recently updated by KFF, provide a snapshot of state Medicaid programs, with key data about Medicaid enrollment, coverage, eligibility, and financing. Each state fact sheet is two pages. National data is also available.
The State Profiles for Dual-Eligible Individuals highlight data on enrollment, spending, demographics, and eligibility pathways for people enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, also known as “dual-eligible” individuals. National data is also available.
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Changes to SNAP and Medicaid Would Have Implications for Student Access to School Meals
Urban Institute
| To reduce duplicative paperwork for schools, students whose families participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or who receive Medicaid automatically qualify for free school meals. The changes to SNAP and Medicaid that the House of Representatives passed in their recent spending bill would have downstream effects on student access to free school meals. Declines in SNAP receipt can reduce the number of students who are eligible for school meals without an application and can increase costs for schools providing universal free meals. | |
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Mitigating the Impact of Incarceration on Children and Families
Safety and Justice Challenge and the National Center for Victims of Crime
| Approximately 1 in 28 children in the U.S. has a parent who is incarcerated, and the incarceration of a parent significantly impacts children’s lives. Children with a parent who is incarcerated are more likely to be expelled from school and less likely to graduate from college than their peers who do not have a parent who is incarcerated. This resource includes five key takeaways that institutions can implement to better serve families and mitigate their trauma during incarceration. | |
Notable Funding Opportunities
(listed in order of application deadline)
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The Founders’ Award from SAX is focusing on nonprofit perseverance this year. Applicants must submit their video application by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, June 20, 2025.
The AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation is accepting applications from nonprofits that are doing work to prevent and mitigate adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and to promote protective and compensatory childhood experiences (sometimes called PACEs). The Foundation makes grants in three pillars: empowered families, healing behaviors, and access to health care. Applicants must be located in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, or South Carolina. Letters of intent (LOIs) are due by Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Select organizations will be invited to submit a full proposal.
The Bank of America Charitable Foundation is accepting applications in its Stable Housing and Empowering Communities focus areas. Applicants must be located in the Bank of America footprint. The application deadline is Monday, June 30, 2025.
The Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation Local Grant Application is open to submissions from local, community-based organizations. The Foundation’s mission is to make mental health a priority in every community, especially those where support is most needed, by increasing awareness and education, improving access to care, and building protective factors. Proposals are due by Tuesday, July 1, 2025.
Children’s Mental Health Innovation Awards from Morgan Stanley are designed to help fill the funding gap in the under-resourced children’s mental health sector and provide a runway for game-changing ideas. Their goal is to connect nonprofits with funders, in order to match much-needed capital with innovative projects in the field of mental healthcare for children and youth. They also offer leadership learning opportunities to build capacity for nonprofits. Applications are due by Monday, July 7, 2025.
Family Medicine Cares USA (FMC USA) provides grants to help new free clinics open their doors. If funds are available, FMC USA also provides grants to existing clinics to help care for the uninsured in their communities. Applications are due by Tuesday, July 15, 2025.
The Dermody Properties Foundation supports organizations that focus on the arts, education, and the family, with a special emphasis on children, older adults, people with disabilities, substance use, and people experiencing homelessness. Organizations must be located within approximately 30 miles of a current Dermody project to be eligible. Applications are due by Friday, August 1, 2025.
Title IV-B Kinship Navigator Funding
Beginning in FY 2026, kinship navigator IV-B funding will be granted through a competitive process. That Notice of Funding Availability is not open yet. As soon as it becomes available, we will immediately share it on our LinkedIn page. For the first time, nonprofit organizations will be allowed to apply directly for this IV-B funding. Collaboration will continue to be very important, and any nonprofit lead applicant should closely collaborate with their jurisdiction’s title IV-E child welfare agency.
In the meantime, states, tribes, and territories should ensure that they use or obligate all of their FY 2024 Title IV-B Kinship Navigator funding by September 30, 2025. Kinship navigator services are so critical for the families – particularly for those who are not child welfare involved – and agencies have important flexibility in using these funds to meet the needs of their communities.
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10 States Have Approved Title IV-E Kinship Navigator Plans
Ongoing, uncapped title IV-E funding is available to any title IV-E child welfare agency that operates a kinship navigator program that meets federal programmatic requirements and is found to be evidence-based by the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse (Clearinghouse). These title IV-E funds will not impact the jurisdiction’s other child welfare funding priorities.
As of June 2025, six kinship navigator programs have been found to be evidence-based by the Clearinghouse and are eligible to obtain 50% federal reimbursement of all program, training, and administrative costs to run the program. Title IV-E child welfare agencies that want to follow one of these models with fidelity rather than evaluate their own program can follow the guidance in ACYF-CB-PI-18-11 to submit a Title IV-E Plan Pre-Print Attachment XII and revise their cost allocation plan. Once the attachment has been approved by the Children’s Bureau at the U.S. Administration for Children, Youth and Families and the jurisdiction’s cost allocation plan has been modified and approved, 50% of all allowable program, administrative, and training expenditures for the title IV-E kinship navigator program are federally reimbursable.
As of June 2025, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and Washington have approved title IV-E Kinship Navigator Plans. Several of these states are using models developed in other states. Iowa is following the Ohio Kinship Supports Model. Minnesota, South Carolina, and Utah are following Nevada’s Foster Kinship Model. Nebraska is following the Arizona Kinship Supports Model, and Virginia is following the Washington State Kinship Navigator Model.
For more information on kinship navigator programs, visit https://www.gksnetwork.org/resources/kinship-navigator-programs-around-the-united-states/.
Principal Magazine, May/June 2025
We were thrilled to be published in Principal Magazine, a publication of the National Association of Elementary School Principals. Our piece emphasizes the importance of identifying grandfamilies and working with them in school settings. We offer five concrete steps that principals can take to engage with grandfamilies in their schools, and we link to our toolkit for K-12 education professionals.
Pennsylvania Department of Aging, May 28, 2025
The PA CareKit is a resource that is designed to support all types of caregivers – including spouses, adult children, and grandparents raising grandchildren. It provides training, connection to respite services, and personalized tools to help caregivers address their unique situations. The PA CareKit is the result of year one of the implementation of Aging Our Way, PA, a 10-year plan to improve the infrastructure of aging services in the commonwealth.
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The Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network is the first-ever national technical assistance center for those who serve grandfamilies and kinship families. It was created to help guide lasting, systemic reforms. The Network is a new way to collaborate, to work across jurisdictional and systemic boundaries, to eliminate silos, and to help one another and be helped in return. Thank you for being part of it.
We'd love to hear from you! Please send any feedback on this newsletter to mweiss@gu.org.
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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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