The Network Connection

Learning Community Session – Trauma Informed Case Studies with Dr. Mike Sherman

3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET

Explore how traumatic life experiences can present in children, from newborns through teens, and participate in an interactive discussion on supportive strategies. To facilitate the interactive nature of this session, it will have a 100-person registration cap, so don’t wait to register!

"Office Hours" – Federal Nutrition Programs & Kinship/Grandfamilies Series: Summer Nutrition Programs

2:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. ET

Join Clarissa Hayes, Deputy Director, Child Nutrition Programs & Policy at the Food Research & Action Center, for an information and question-and-answer session on key topics related to the Summer Meals Program and Summer EBT. She’ll share tools and tips to help grandfamilies and kinship families access these programs and highlight how service providers can leverage federal dollars to provide meals to children and teens.

Webinar – Housing for Grandfamilies: A Rising Need

2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. ET

In keeping with our practice, the webinar will be one hour, followed immediately by an open Q&A session that will last for half an hour.

The scarcity of safe, quality, affordable housing is a national dilemma that poses an additional challenge for older caregivers who are raising their grandchildren or other young relatives. Many housing units for older Americans do not allow minor-age tenants, forcing caregivers to find an all-too-rare alternative, often on short notice. As social service agencies and policymakers grapple with increasing demands for kinship/grandfamily housing, this webinar features two organizations that are filling that gap. Learn from their experiences in navigating the complex regulations, funding challenges, and program design intricacies required to bring a good idea to fruition and gain ideas to follow suit in addressing a dire and growing need.

Learning Community Session – Kin Caregiver Panel Discussion with Dr. Joseph Crumbley

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET

Join us for a panel discussion with kin caregivers sharing their perspectives on traumatic life experiences and how agencies can best support them and their families. To facilitate the interactive nature of this session, it will have a 100-person registration cap, so don’t wait to register!

Webinar – Strategies for Using Data to Prioritize Kinship Care

2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. ET

In keeping with our practice, the webinar will be one hour, followed immediately by an open Q&A session that will last for half an hour.

This webinar is designed to support child welfare practitioners in using data to prioritize kinship care. Network Subject Matter Experts Noah Duncan and Jack Tait, both of Foster Insights, will draw on their experience with states across the country to discuss first steps for collecting and understanding kinship data, as well as using data to engage kin caregivers. Plan on leaving this session empowered to implement practical data strategies in your own agency.

Honoring Native Kinship: A Brief on ICWA and Relative Caregivers

This resource, published in partnership with the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA), discusses the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and other federal laws that support kinship care. It also explains the benefits of kinship care for all children and youth and the specific benefits for Native children. Later sections focus on the inequitable supports that are available to kinship families in comparison to licensed foster families and federal policy reforms that have begun to address these inequities.

Representing Indian Children: What Judges and Attorneys Should Know About ICWA, Kinship, and Native Culture

This tip sheet, published in partnership with the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, describes the statutory requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), the placement preferences in ICWA, and the benefits of continued Tribal connections.

Please visit our resource library for over 145 other practical tools and materials, including updates to the perennially popular fact sheet, Kinship/Grandfamilies: Strengths and Challenges. The updates include new statistics from AFCARS regarding kinship adoption and guardianship. Our Kinship/Grandfamilies Data page has also been updated to reflect the data that is now available.  

Upcoming Webinars and Opportunities

• Webinar – Partnering for Prevention in Schools, presented by the School-Based Health Alliance on Wednesday, May 27, at 3:00 p.m. ET 

• Webinar – Data That Delivers: How AAAs Can Measure and Strengthen Caregiver Programs, presented by USAging, a Network managing partner organization, on Thursday, May 28, at 2:00 p.m. ET

• Webinar – Supporting Indian Tribal Organizations to Expand Summer EBT Access, presented by the Food Research & Action Center (a Network subject matter expert organization) and the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative on Thursday, May 28, at 3:00 p.m. ET

• Two Peer Learning Cohorts – The National Caregiver Support Collaborative is accepting expression of interest forms for two new peer learning cohorts. The topics are: “Building and Strengthening Community Partnerships” and “Leveraging Caregiver Assessment to Meet Caregiver Needs.” Eligible participant organizations include state units on aging, area agencies on aging, Title VI Programs, Tribes, local service providers, Native Hawaiian providers, kinship organizations, and disability service network providers. Expression of interest forms must be submitted by 8:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, June 3. 

• Webinar – Family First: The Power of Reunification and Kinship Care, presented by Youth Voices Rising on Thursday, June 4, at 2:00 p.m. ET.

• Webinar – Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs) Basics, presented by Justice in Aging on Tuesday, June 9, at 2:00 p.m. ET

• For Caregivers 
• Generations United is launching a new opportunity for caregivers. Grandfamilies & Kinship University (GKU) is a national leadership and community impact program that empowers kin caregivers – including grandparents, close family friends, and other relatives raising children – to lead, connect, and create change in their communities. Through leadership training, peer support, funding, and community-based projects, participants will build skills and relationships to help them better support their own families and others like them. Applications are open through Monday, June 8.

• Information Memorandum: Updated National Model Foster Family Home Licensing Standards, Kin-Specific Foster Family Home Licensing Standards, and Updates to the Responsibilities and Recommendations for Licensing Agencies, published by the Children’s Bureau, an office of the Administration for Children & Families within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Related Resources: 
• Model Family Foster Home Licensing Standards, published by the National Association for Regulatory Administration

• Kin-Specific Foster Home Approval: Recommended Standards of National Organizations and its associated sample forms and information on intentionally excluded requirements 

• Supporting Kinship Caregivers: Tips and Tools Featuring Foster Kinship, an article published by the National Center for Diligent Recruitment – and we thank them for including links to several Network resources in their piece 

• How Current Data Can Help Us Measure Progress Toward a Home for Every Child, a report published by Child Trends, a Network managing partner organization 

• Mapping Caregiver Navigation Services: An Environmental Scan of Current Practices, published by the National Caregiver Support Collaborative

• The National Caregiver Support Collaborative has released Title VI Desk References, which are designed to help Native American Caregiver Support Program (NACSP) and National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP) staff recognize and effectively support older family, kin, and Tribal caregivers. These Desk References provide an overview of Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian family caregivers, how to identify them, and what supports are available to strengthen caregiving within these communities.

• How SNAP and Medicaid Affect Free Meal Access for Public School Students, published by the Urban Institute 

• Food is Medicine in Medicaid: How States Can Expand Nutrition Services, a fact sheet published by the Center for Health Care Strategies

• State Approaches to SNAP PER Reduction and H.R. 1 Implementation Overview, published by the American Public Human Services Association