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The Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network is now on LinkedIn. Please follow us here! | | |
Announcing Our Newest Assistance Opportunity!
Bridging Systems for Kinship Families
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We are thrilled to roll out a unique opportunity to work with the nation's leading experts on kinship families. Apply by January 30 for the chance to receive support to improve collaboration across government systems and nonprofit service providers, address service barriers, and leverage resources to maximize support of all kinship families, whether they are involved in the child welfare system or not. The Network will select two jurisdictions – states, territories, and/or large counties – and Network experts will provide in-depth support to each. The Network's support, all free of charge, will focus on collaborative goals identified by the lead agencies and their partners. | |
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Questions? Join Us for a Live Zoom Call to Learn More About this Opportunity!
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET
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What's New From the Network? | |
Navigating Family Dynamics in Kinship Families: Tips for Service Providers
In this tip sheet, Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network Subject Matter Expert Dr. Joseph Crumbley offers the strategies that you can use to help kin/grandfamily caregivers adjust and adapt as they navigate new family dynamics in their role as primary caregivers.
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Supporting Kinship Families of Unaccompanied Immigrant Children
In recent years, record numbers of unaccompanied immigrant children have crossed into the United States. While many of these children are soon reunited with and released to parents who are already in the U.S., upwards of 60 percent are released to sponsors who are kin. This tip sheet provides information and guidance to help you better serve these kinship families.
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Housing Developments for Grandfamilies
This list contains information about housing developments around the country specifically designed for grandfamilies. If you know of an existing or planned development that is not included in our current list, please email us information about it at info@gksnetwork.org.
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Monthly Resource – Transforming Foster Care: What the September 2023 Rule Means
Our monthly two-pager for November outlines some of the most fundamental questions and answers about the September 2023 rule from the U.S. Administration for Children and Families that allows agencies to implement foster family home licensing or approval standards tailored to relatives and kin. While we also have a more detailed summary of the final rule, this piece is our response to the need for more general information for non-child welfare professionals. We are grateful to our partners at ZERO TO THREE for their leadership in producing these monthly resources.
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Relevant Trainings for Kin Caregivers and Those Who Work with Them
This resource is not new, but it is newly reformatted and updated. Check it out for training information for kinship families and those who serve them.
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In this monthly section, we'll share a tweet or other small bit of information that you can easily copy and share.
This month, we're celebrating National Family Caregiver Month. We invite you to join us by liking and/or sharing this LinkedIn post. If you write your own post, don’t forget to use #NFCMonth!
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Individual Technical 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 date, we have responded to TA requests from 47 states and territories.
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To request assistance on the array of issues impacting kinship/grandfamilies, please complete our request assistance form.
Here is an example TA request and response.
Request
Is there any state that is already in alignment with the new federal rule? If so, I wonder how they are doing and if they have increased overall the number of kinship placements in their state and if there are any challenges or implications that may have arisen? Thanks.
Response
No states are in alignment with the federal rule at this time. However, a group of national organizations, including the Network, are working with five pilot states and a tribe to help them align with the federal rule. It is important to note that most title IV-E agencies’ existing initial kinship placement processes are similar to the draft Kin-Specific Approval Standards, and the Standards were heavily informed by these existing processes. Some refer to their initial process as a provisional or emergency license; others do not use these terms but still have emergency placement processes for kin.
Factors regarding current kin initial placement processes that may impact kinship placement percentages include whether an agency has an expansive definition of kin, whether it has a safety and needs assessment that reflects the diverse array of kin caregivers, and whether there is a state-specific list of automatic disqualifying crimes that exceeds the federal list. Critically, an agency’s kin-finding practices are key to kin placement numbers; please see the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network Kin-Finding Toolkit for recommended practices.
To learn more about the new rule, see the recording of our webinar, “Kin-Specific Foster Home Licensure: Overview of New Federal Rule & Release of Recommended Standards" and the list of associated resources that are also available via the webpage with the webinar recording. Also, do not hesitate to use our form to reach out with any additional questions.
To make an individual request, please complete this form and we will get in touch.
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Presentations About the Network | | |
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On Wednesday, November 29, Ana will present at a webinar sponsored by the Family Focused Treatment Association. The webinar will focus on the new federal rule, and it will also feature Generations United GRAND Voices, who will speak from the caregiver perspective.
On Thursday, November 30, Ana will speak over Zoom with the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging Senior Companion volunteers. She will be discussing kinship navigation.
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What's New Around the Network? | |
Proposed Rule on Strengthening Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) as a Safety Net and Work Program
Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Comments Due On or Before Friday, December 1, 2023
If adopted, this proposed rule would (1) establish a ceiling on the term “needy”; (2) clarify when an expenditure is “reasonably calculated to accomplish a TANF purpose”; (3) exclude as allowable TANF maintenance-of-effort (MOE) expenditures cash donations from non-governmental third parties and the value of third-party in-kind contributions; (4) ensure that excused holidays match the number of federal holidays, following the recognition of Juneteenth as a federal holiday; (5) develop new criteria to allow states to use alternative Income and Eligibility Verification System (IEVS) measures; (6) clarify the “significant progress” criteria following a work participation rate corrective compliance plan; and (7) clarify the existing regulatory text about the allowability of costs associated with disseminating program information.
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Call for Sessions: USAging Conference and Tradeshow
USAging
Submissions Due By Friday, December 1, 2023
USAging, one of the Network’s five managing partners, is hosting its 49th Annual Conference and Tradeshow from July 8 through July 11, 2024, in Tampa, Florida. More than 1,000 Aging Network professionals, as well as nationally renowned decision makers and experts, participate in the Conference because they know that the issues and programs they—and the communities they serve—care about most will be showcased. Network representatives will be attending the Conference and leading at least one session focused on kinship/grandfamilies.
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Resident Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency Service Coordinator (ROSS-SC) Program Notice of Funding Opportunity
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Applications Due By Monday, December 18, 2023
This program will provide 130 grants, each for up to $816,750. The program is designed to assist residents of public and Indian housing in making progress toward economic and housing self-sufficiency by removing educational, professional, and health barriers. HUD provides ROSS-SC grant funding to eligible applicants to hire a Service Coordinator who assesses the needs of Public and Indian housing residents and links them to local training and supportive services.
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Local Community Grants
Walmart
Applications Due By Sunday, December 31, 2023
The Local Community Grants program provides $250 to $5,000 to government entities (including schools), nonprofit organizations that operate on the local level (or are an affiliate/chapter of a larger organization that operates locally), and faith-based organizations (provided that their proposed project benefits the community at large). Organizations may submit multiple applications. There are eight areas of funding for which an organization can apply (community and economic development, diversity and inclusion, education, environmental sustainability, health and human service, hunger relief and healthy eating, public safety, and quality of life).
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“Building Resilience: Supporting Grandfamilies’ Mental Health and Wellness” Report
Generations United
The 2023 State of Grandfamilies report aims to bring attention to the mental health and emotional wellness of grandfamilies, shed light on their resilience and challenges they face, and provide innovative solutions and resources to better support them. The report also includes policy and program recommendations for strengthening these incredible families.
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Tribal Protections in Medicaid and CHIP Managed Care Oversight Toolkit
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
This toolkit provides details about what states and territories can do to maximize the benefits of Medicaid and CHIP managed care for American Indian/Alaska Native enrollees and Indian Health Care Providers. The toolkit includes three sections of background/context and informational overviews, followed by recommended practices.
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This short guest article, written by Dr. Jill Duerr Berrick, Distinguished Professor and the Zellerbach Family Foundation Professor of Social Welfare at U.C. Berkeley, discusses the impact of child support enforcement on families who are involved in the child welfare system and presents opportunities for reform.
November 15, 2023
This Information Memorandum (IM) is to remind state, territorial, and tribal title IV-E agencies of the school enrollment and educational stability requirements for students in foster care included in the title IV-E and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
November 3, 2023
The Alaska Legal Services Corporation (ALCS) and the U.S. Department of Justice joined together in Bethel, Alaska “to launch a new resource center to help get more rural Alaska residents trained to carry out tasks traditionally handled by lawyers.” Community justice workers already exist in this area, and, after completing free training courses, they “handle civil procedures like wills, debt collection, unemployment benefits, domestic violence protection, and Indian Child Welfare Act cases.” The program has earned national attention for its emphasis on cultural competency and its collaborations.
The Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program for Children (Summer EBT) program will officially launch in summer 2024. Summer EBT provides grocery-buying benefits to low-income families with school-aged children when schools are closed for the summer. More than 29 million children across the U.S. could benefit from Summer EBT. Beginning in summer 2024, families will receive $40 per eligible child, per month. These benefits work together with other available nutrition assistance programs, such as summer meal sites, SNAP, and WIC, to help ensure kids have consistent access to critical nutrition when school is out.
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The Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network is now on LinkedIn. Please follow us here! | |
Did you receive this newsletter as a forwarded email? You can sign up to get it in your inbox every month! | |  |
Generations United is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. For more information, read our full statement. | |
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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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