Thursday, February 12, 2009

TIMELY RESOURCES FOR KINSHIP CARE

Listen Up you many millions who are raising relative’s children AND especially kinship care service providers – there is so much happening in kinship care and related issues for securing children with beloved relatives. Here are just a few:

Note the early registration for the National Center on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Symposium in Atlanta Georgia has been extended to February 27, 2009. Go to http://chhs.gsu.edu/nationalcenter/docs/symposium2009.pdf for the registration form and the full brochure of a very impressive line up. This two-day conference, March 10 - 11, offers credit for social service providers. Cost – about $300 for the two days. Alternate contact: Dr. Deborah Whitley, School of Social Work, GSU, (404) 413-1055

Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) National Conference for members is in Washington, DC, February 23-25. www.cwla.org Those attending can pick up a copy of the 2007 Guidelines for Mental Health in Child Welfare For more information about the Guidelines for Mental Health in Child Welfare and the associated Toolkit, contact Lisa Hunter Romanelli at lisa@thereachinstitute.org .

Nominations are currently being accepted for the 2009 Generations United Awards to be presented at the Awards Banquet during the Generations United 15th International Conference July 27 – July 31 at the Hyatt Regency Washington in Washington DC. Neither nominators nor nominees need to be GU Members in order to be considered for an award. The deadline for Award Nominations is March 31, 2009. For more information or to download the nomination form, please visit http://www.gu.org/AwardsNominations.asp.

Social Service Workers – this one is important:
Two new resources on the new Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. The resources include New Help for Children Raised by Grandparents and Other Relatives: Questions and Answers About the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 and Top 10 List for Relative Caregivers to Implement Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008.The resources were produced in partnership with Generations United, the Children`s Defense Fund (CDF), the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), and many others.

Applications are available from February 3 to March 31, 2009 online only at http://www.aarpfoundationwlc.org for The AARP Foundation Women's Scholarship Program. The scholarship is open to low-income women 40+. Priority is given to women who are in one of three categories: 1) women raising the children of another family member, 2) those in dead end jobs and 3) those who have been out of the paid workforce for an extended period. The scholarships, which ranged from $500 to $5,000, are to be used for tuition and books are paid directly to the educational institution. For more information contact AARP Foundation Women's Scholarships at 202-434-2110 or visit the website at http://www.aarpfoundationwlc.org.

A wonderful free concept in conferencing: This one is from Barb Schwartz, Social Work in Illinois (Barb.Schwartz@illinois.gov ). If you facilitate a support group for grandparents raising their grandchildren and/or parenting relatives, then please consider participating in our FREE upcoming e-seminar:Online Seminar and Conversation for Support Group Facilitators with Facilitators Barbara Kates and Bette Hoxie Wednesday February 25, 2009 12:00pm-4:00pm EST(11:00am - 3:00pm Central Time) Open to all interested support group leaders/ facilitators. This is a great opportunity to talk with seasoned group facilitators about the nuts and bolts of starting and maintaining a group as well as challenges that arise along the way. This is the first program in a series of e-seminars designed for support group leaders and facilitators who run groups for grandparents raising their grandchildren and/or parenting relatives. Please visit http://www.mainecenteronaging.org/moodle to create an online account and access the e-seminar you would like to join.Those who wish to participate will need a computer with internet access and a web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, AOL, etc.). All seminar activities happen online in a message board format (no audio) with no other special equipment or computer programs needed! View the e-conversation series flyer at: http://www.umaine.edu/mainecenteronaging/documents/Facilitatore-seminarfeb2009.pdf
For more information or technical assistance, please contact:Melissa Adle UMaine Center on Aging 207-262-7931 or melissa.adle@umit.maine.edu This series has been made possible through a grant from the Brookdale Foundation.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I just want to thank you for your book and the information that you gave at the kinship meeting in February. Although we are not adopting relatives (we knew the children prior to adopting), the information and words of encouragement that you gave were wonderful. We are well into the process of adopting and I have met many grandparents in the process of adopting during our training time.
Thank you again for all that you are doing.