The Network Connection

VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 6 | SEPTEMBER 2022


View this Newsletter as a Webpage

Logo of the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network: A National Technical Assistance Center

Happy National Kinship Care Month! Since our last newsletter, we’ve launched our website! Please read on for more information, and to learn about additional news, both from the Network and from other agencies and organizations in the field.


Please share your latest news, upcoming events, and highlights with us. They may be featured in our next newsletter!

An icon with an outline of a white exclamation point against a dark purple background

Check Out Our New Website!

We’ve launched our website, www.GKSNetwork.org, and we’re so excited to share it with you! The website already contains resources, and we’ll continue to add to it. We hope it’s a site that you’ll want to bookmark and return to frequently!

EXPLORE OUR NEW WEBSITE

What's New From the Network?

New Caregiver Videos Available on Our New Website!

Our partners at ZERO TO THREE helped us create three brief videos to highlight the stories of three kin/grandfamily caregivers. Each video focuses on a different person, and they are all less than three minutes long.

Meet Rosalie Tallbull
Rosalie Tallbull stands with her arm around her grandson in front of a beautiful mountain and water vista, and both smile at the camera .
Meet Keith Lowhorne
Keith Lowhorne holds his grandchild and seems to be dancing and singing. The baby looks right at the camera and smiles.
Meet Santana Lee
Santana Lee and her daughter smile at the camera.
Dr. Cross Headshot
Dr. Crumbley Headshot

September Webinars

Thank you to everyone who attended our first webinar, “Collaboration for Grandfamilies and Kinship Family Support,” presented by Dr. Terry Cross. Our second webinar, “Family Dynamics in Kinship Families: Implications for Services and Programs,” presented by Dr. Joseph Crumbley, takes place later today.


Those who missed Dr. Cross’s webinar (and those who want to see it again) can watch the recording, which is available on our website. The recording of Dr. Crumbley’s webinar will be available online within the next week.

Apply Today for an Exemplary Kinship/Grandfamilies Policy, Practice, and Program Designation

The Network is seeking to identify and designate exemplary kinship/grandfamilies policies, practices, and programs to elevate good work and share replicable strategies with others. We encourage applications from government agencies in states, tribes, and territories, as well as kinship navigator programs and other community-based organizations that serve kinship/grandfamilies. Apply today!

READY FOR RECOGNITION? The Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network wants to lift up your exemplary policy, practice, or program!
CHECK OUT THE APPLICATION
An icon of a "We're Hiring!" sign hangs at an angle, with an icon of an empty office chair next to it. Below, it says "Help us spread the word and apply to join our team!"

 Seeking Project Assistant

The Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network Project Assistant received a promotion and is now serving as the Network’s Technical Assistance Coordinator. As a result, we’re hiring a new Project Assistant! Please share this job opportunity widely. We are excited to expand our team and our impact.

LEARN MORE AND SHARE/APPLY

Please Take Our Short Social Media Survey!

Thank you to those of you who have completed our social media survey.


We are still accepting submissions, with the goal of learning the best way to connect with you and your agency/organization/tribe, outside of this monthly newsletter. Please complete a very brief survey about your favorite social media platforms. It should take less than two minutes to respond.

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TAKE SHORT SURVEY

Individual Technical Assistance Spotlight

An orange icon with two speech bubbles. The first speech bubble contains a question mark and the second contains a check mark.

The Network is accepting individual technical assistance (TA) requests from professionals who work in systems and organizations that serve kinship/grandfamilies.


To request TA, please complete our new Technical Assistance Request Form.

Here's an example TA request and response.


Request

I’m a direct service professional and my organization is interested in developing respite services. Where should we begin?


Response

A visit to the ARCH Respite website can provide resources of interest (some resources may need to be adapted to services for caregivers of children).


Here are some resources that may be helpful:


From ARCH Respite: Providing Safe, Appropriate, and Quality Services

Download the ARCH National Respite Guidelines, free of charge, to provide some assistance in developing a high-quality respite service. You might also find the ARCH Respite Fact Sheets, which focus on the respite needs of specific populations, helpful as you consider the type of service you are planning to provide. These are also available for download at no charge. Three examples are listed below. 




Upcoming Presentations About the Network


  • On Tuesday, September 27, Shalah Bottoms, the Network’s technical assistance specialist, will deliver a virtual presentation called “Engaging in Cross-System Collaboration to Support Kinship Families” at the 2022 Paving the Way to Educational Success Conference in Pennsylvania.


What's New Around the Network?

A graphic showing photos of older people eating well, exercising, and sleeping. Graphics of emotion regulation/coping, a stethoscope and medication, and self-monitoring alternate with the photos.

Promoting Healthy Behaviors for Kinship Caregivers


Children’s Bureau Learning & Coordination Center


Wednesday, September 21, 2022

2:00 p.m. ET

Kinship caregivers often prioritize the needs of the children they are raising before caring for their own needs, frequently delaying their own medical appointments and medication purchases to buy shoes for children and pay for transportation and food. Learn more about kinship caregiver health and an approach to working with kinship caregivers that emphasizes self-compassion and self-care. Created by a multi-disciplinary team of doctors and social workers, the Time for Me Toolkit helps peer navigators to support and provide psychoeducation to caregivers around six pillars of health management (Healthy Eating, Being Active, Healthy Sleep, Healthy Coping, Medical Adherence, and Self-Monitoring).

Learn More and Sign Up

Why Native American Traditions Are Critical to Caregivers of Kin Children


RedMane Technology


Thursday, September 29, 2022

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. ET

This webinar will explore how connections to culture and heritage impact kinship care placements and will share practical strategies that demonstrate positive outcomes. The discussion will cover the importance of culture in successful kinship care placements within a tribal community, the gaps or challenges in supporting Native American kinship care families, and how a focus on relative care and prevention is impacting tribal communities. There will also be time for attendees to ask questions. The presenters lead kinship care programs in their communities.

A Navajo family sits outside a traditional hogan.
Learn More and Register
A graphic of two hands reaching for each other, one adult-sized and one child-sized.

Hidden Consequences: The Impact of Cycles of Incarceration and Trauma on Families


A Breakout Session at the National Training Institute 2022 National Conference


Friday, October 7, 2022

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. ET

For years, adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, have been an area of focus by victim service providers, specifically those centered around childhood abuse and trauma. The experience of having a parent or caregiver who has an incarceration history is also defined as an ACE but has not been as widely discussed as a contributing factor to trauma and later incarceration. This plenary session will discuss the impact of these experiences on children and families, and what can be done to lessen the harm done.

Register for the Conference

News to Know

September is Kinship Care Month

Richland Source



In honor of Kinship Care Month, Shannon Deinhart, the executive director and co-founder of Kinnect, wrote a piece about the importance of kinship care and the Kinnect to Family program, which is making a difference for children and families in over 25 counties in Ohio.


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.