Grandparents, Kinship Care, Relatives As Parents, are the keys

Grandparents raising grandchildren. Kinship Care. Relatives As Parents. A Kinship Guide. Resources for Grandfamilies. These are all key words used by seekers on the new miracle of web searching. How did you find us? I need to know this because though I am deeply passionate about securing children in healthy families, I am sorely weak in the brave new cyber world. Your comments are so appreciated.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
Those state agencies who are applying for Navigator Programs from Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act are due July 6. Though there are segments of this grant emphasizing foster care, the potential piece for statewide kinship navigator programs for all grandfamilies are timely. The full announcement from ACF can be viewed here: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/HHS-2009-ACF-ACYF-CF-0078.html

This piece of the legislation is critical to establishing statewide programs to guide ALL relative caregivers. As we have noted before, much emphasis is placed on Relative Foster Care which accounts for about 150,000 children nationwide, yet the other 5 million children raised in kinship care have just a few strong state programs to help guide them through the mysteries of public systems. Most states have little or no guidance except in regional areas. The consequence is that children are left with minimal resources and adult caregivers exasperated by the challenges.

If you are part of an agency that is able to apply for the Navigator Program funding ($450,000/ 30 grants), encourage your team to work diligently toward July 6. The September 4, 2008 Kincare Blog has an entry on Keys to local Kinship Care Resource Centers. Some ideas there may be helpful. A Kinship Guide to Rescuing Children (ISBN 978-0-9801352-0-6) also has a comprehensive section on The Community Kinship Care Resource Center beginning on p. 146.

Best wishes to all of you who work for kinship families and who are kinship families. Every conference I attend, every book talk, every casual encounter with relative caregivers is inspiring and insightful.

Love,
Tita

More Kinship Care Events

As you will see by some of the events taking place listed below there is a lot of information available for grandparents and other relatives as kinship caregivers. These are timely. If you are in the regional area and interested in a particular program, act quickly to get the best benefit. Many of these programs and newsletters are a model for what can be done anywhere. I hope you check them out.

OHIO
“Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Seminar Presented by: Sr. Suzette Fisher, SND, Ed.S., Double ARC The is Program approved for 1 CEU in Counseling and/or Social Work. Thursday, April 30, 2009, 8:15—9:30 a.m. at the Margaret Hunt Senior Center, Toledo, Ohio 2121 Garden Lake Parkway RSVP to Lorri Esper, Administrative Assistant, 419-725-7042

ILLINOIS
Representative Eddie Washington (Waukegan/Lake County) will be sponsoring a town hall meeting for relatives raising children Monday, May 4, 2009 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Waukegan Park Place Senior Center 414 South Lewis Avenue Waukegan, Il 60085Representative Washington will facilitate the discussion, share information concerning his proposed legislation to assist kinship families and be available to hear your concerns.Representatives from DHS, DCFS and the Dept. on Aging will be available to answer questions and discuss resources. This event is open to relatives raising children as well as providers. Please feel free to contact Barb Schwartz at 217/524-5327 or by email Barb.Schwartz@illinois.gov for further information on the event.

MAINE for all Relative Caregivers
The University of Maine Center on Aging RAPP is conducting a survey of kinship caregivers in rural areas. This survey will be used to help develop a RAPP manual that will help agencies that are starting new RAPP services in rural areas or seeking to expand RAPP services to rural caregivers. The manual will also provide fresh ideas to existing RAPP programs in rural areas. To date, we have gathered feedback from professionals and experts in the field. Now we need help tapping another group of experts - rural caregivers. Please consider assisting with the development of this manual by passing out a survey to your support group members to help us gather information about their rural caregiving experience. The survey can be done individually or as a group. Please contact Melissa Adle at melissa.adle@umit.maine.edu melissa.adle@umit.maine.edu or call (207) 262-7931 and leave a message to participate.Melissa can e-mail a packet that includes an informed consent and information sheet, instructions for group/individual participation, a survey form, and raffle sheet, which you can print. “I appreciate your assistance, and hope you will help us to document the strengths of rural grandfamilies and challenges they face so programs can develop strategies to best meet their needs.”
MICHIGAN
Statewide Kinship Care Professionals Conference Friday, May 29th, 2009, 9:30 a.m.—2:00 p.m., Hannah Community Center, E. Lansing, MI
Registration Due: Mon., May 8th, 2009. Seating is limited
Cost: Free for agency contracting with an Area Agency on Aging; $25.00 for general public. Call 517-355-9600 or e-mail us at kinship@msu.edu to register!
Also: Nominate a candidate for the “Outstanding Kinship Leadership
Award” and prize by Tuesday, May 1. Nominees can include a kinship director, coordinator, and or a support group leader. To nominate a candidate, please e-mail or mail us a half-page paragraph of your nominee’s name, agency, title, years of service, services provided, and why they deserve this recognition . The award will be presented during the Statewide Kinship Service Provider’s Meeting.

NEWSLETTERS
For a good example of Kinship Care communications check out these two:

MICHIGAN
The Spring edition of the kinship Kinnections newsletter for Michigan from Michigan State University School of Social Work, www.kinship.msu.edu this is an excellent form of communication with state wide programs. For more information contact kinship@msu.edu

OHIO
May Kinship News from Area Office on Aging on-line at www.areaofficeonaging.com or contact Judy Paschalis jpaschalis@areaofficeonaging.com

Thank you to all who send information to info@chicagoroadpublishing.com or inquire about the book, A Kinship Guide to Rescuing Children for Grandparents and Other Relatives As Parents, (www.chicagoroadpublishing.com or Amazon.com).
Enjoy the birds,
love,
Tita

KINSHIP CARE - What's Happening In Your State?

Many excellent events and communications are happening regarding kinship care issues all across our country. Here are a few that have been sent to us. We will try to keep an update of such events as they come to us.
Minnesota
From Sharon Durken of the Minnesota Kinship Caregivers Association (MKCA). We at MKCA are excited and honored to share this news. MKCA has been selected by Brookdale Foundation as one of 6 finalists in competition to receive the first ever national Janet Sainer Award.
The Janet Sainer award seeks to honor the legacy of a special consultant to the Brookdale Foundation Group, where she focused on the issues faced by grandparents and other relatives raising children.
The information should be posted on the Brookdale web-site www.brookdalefoundation.org
With regards,
Sharon
Sharon Durken, Executive Director
Minnesota Kinship Caregivers Assoc. (MKCA)
www.mkca.org

Ohio
Kinship News is now available online from the Area Office on Aging of NW Ohio Newsletter at www.areaofficeonaging.com Area Office on Aging of NW Ohio 2155 Arlington Avenue Toledo OH 43609

Michigan
We all know that substance abuse plays a primary role in the breakdown of families often resulting in kinship care of the children. The Michigan Prevention Association, sponsors of March as Parent Awareness Month (PAM), is holding the Spring Prevention Advocacy Event, Thursday April 2, Room 424 at the Capitol in Lansing. For more information www.yourmpa.org

Illinois
Illinois Task Force on Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Children Quarterly Meeting is Tuesday, March 31, 2009, 10:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Hoogland Center for the Arts 420 South Sixth Street Springfield, IL 62701
Please RSVP by Wednesday, March 25 to Barb Schwartz by phone (217/524-5327) or email Barb.Schwartz@illinois.gov

TWO IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS
Kinship Trends Report
Casey Family Programs from the Ann E. Casey Foundation has recently published a valuable report on State Kinship Care Policies for Children That Come to the Attention of Child Welfare Agencies. The full report, Findings from the 2007 Casey Kinship Foster Care Policy Survey by Tiffany Allen, Kerry DeVooght, Rob Geen can be found at
http://www.childtrends.org/Files//Child_Trends-2009_02_24_FR_KinshipCare.pdf
Check the Executive Summary page for a good overview. [Thanks to Generations United www.gu.org for notification of the report]

Fostering Connections Reference Guide
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 , for use as a resource tool, implementation, and monitoring of compliance of the Fostering Success Bill. The final document has connections from the questions and answers directly to the part of the bill. Contact Stefanie Sprow of Children’s Trust Fund at ssprow@childrensdefense.org to request a copy. [Thanks to Pat Owens of Grandfamilies of America for this information, www.grandfamiliesofamerica.org]

The capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest meaning and significance. Pablo Casals [Thanks Barb S for the timely quote]
Tita

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.

RFP for Grandparent Programs

Prepare for the funding –
It’s time, folks. Those of you who work in kinship care and especially at local and state resource centers – time to get all of your data and funding resources together so that you can make a plan for RFP’s (program proposals called Request for Funding) that will be coming your way. Whether it is funds from the Fostering Connections for Navigator programs or a collaborative piece of any stimulus money or foundation requests for funding, you will want to be ready.
Steps you may want to consider for funding requests:
1. Meet with kinship partners for a brain session to discuss a project need – it could be establishing a kinship care resource center or addressing a specific health need project for kinship providers such as caring for HIV babies.
2. Vision - Create a vision of the project in detail – is it a resource center where kinship caregivers can discuss their needs and get one-on-one help, regular meetings, with a library, or a program based on a core of current Best Practices such as Second Time Around curriculum (Linda Dannison, linda.dannison@wmich.edu ). Gather the data of those who will use your program to emphasize the need to funders. Note who will be partners in the project such as the health department, senior center, or ymca. Note the role each partner will play. Clearly plan who will do what including the lead agency and a director or leader of the project.
3. Money – work together to plan for costs of the project – personnel, transportation, supplies, the details you will need to make the project succeed. Have the budget reviewed by all partners. Don’t forget to include in-kind support (volunteers, non-financial agency support such site, printing, secretarial support). Always plan for diminished funding – how will the program expect to continue after this funding is gone?
4. Outcome – What are the expected results of this project and how will they be measured? Could the project have a research piece utilizing local university researchers?
5. Time – Be sure that designated writers of the dream project will be ready to adapt to the call for the RFP formula.
Don’t wait for the RFP call. Your kinship community of workers will want to be ready to respond when money becomes available. For more on establishing a kinship care resource center check the book, A Kinship Guide to Rescuing Children for Grandparents and Other Relatives As Parents at www.chicagoroadpublishing.com .
Good luck,
Tita

GRAMMY HELP IN CALIFORNIA

This morning’s mail brought a disturbing comment from a grammy in California. I am not sure I should publish the comment and I don’t know how to contact her personally, so I am going to try to comment here. She and her husband have had legal custody of three grandchildren from Virginia for five years. She lives in California. They are raising the children in their elder years without any financial assistance even though the children came through the social services system. I hope she will return to the blog and perhaps catch this post which may also be of help to other families.

Grammy, first I know it doesn’t mean much when you feel so frustrated, but I applaud you and your husband for the support and love you have given these young children. I think you need an ombudsman or some other advocate to help you. Please take a moment to write down what it is you specifically need. Then write down what the barrier is to getting this need. Then consider contacting the Grandparent Project in California at 800-222-1753 or e-mail your question through their website www.seniorlegalhotline.org .

There is an agreement between all 50 states called the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) which may be a tool to get the two states involved to assist you. I know that money is a grave problem and you certainly don’t want to be spending a lot on attorney fees or cross country transportation. Please call the Grandparent Project, a legal resource specializing in issues like these. I hope you will send another comment to the Kincare Blog to let us know if this was helpful.
In the meantime our thoughts are with you on this big issue in your lives.
Tita

KINSHIP HEALTH INSURANCE ISSUES

When grandparents or other relatives take on the care of a kinship child a number of critical issues appear. One of the most frustrating for many families is health insurance for the child. Unless some legal health coverage arrangements have been documented with the parents, relative caregivers are usually responsible for the health care costs of children in their care.

Children in the Relative Foster Care programs receive Medicaid. That covers about 15% of the children raised in kinship care.

Grandparents who choose to go to their State’s social services agency can apply for one of two types of services:
1. the Child Only Grant which does not scrutinize the caregivers income. Child Only Grant caregivers receive a small amount of support funding and a Medicaid card for the children.
2. public assistance which is funding to eligible (income based) caregivers for managing the household, AND a Medicaid card for the children.
Though financially struggling, grandparents and other caregivers do not choose public assistance because the public agency is required to seek money from the parents to offset the costs. This often causes a great deal of dissension in an already troubled family, a wedge grandparents especially want to avoid.

The Medicaid card is a valuable tool for children because it not only covers medical issues, but also preventive care and in some cases special needs issues.
Other options:
- If a kinship family has a moderate income but the child for some reason is denied Medicaid, most states offer the States Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) funded by Congress through a variety of public health programs. For a small amount of money - $5 a month – a basic health insurance can be obtained for low-income working families.
- Families that are not income eligible for such programs often face challenges with their own insurance companies. Most health insurance institutions cover only birth or adopted children in the home – not power of attorney, guardianship, or even court ordered custody.

When relative caregivers assume the care of children who are in need of therapy or serious medical problems they are forced to look at a variety of possible options, none of which come easy. With 6 million children in relative care, most in need of adequate health coverage, this is an issue advocates, legislators, and private insurance providers must consider in the coming year.

Back to work!
Tita