Dedicated to Family and Friends Providing Full Time Care to Children
September is
National Kinship Care Month!
The MRPA is dedicated to providing support to Kinship Parents every month. We are delighted to join other organizations in celebrating Kinship Care Month this September. Watch us on Facebook and our website for special posts, videos and other content all throughout this month.
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What is Kinship Care Month?
Childwelfare.gov provides the following details about this month:
Kinship care refers to the care of children by relatives or, in some jurisdictions, close family friends (often referred to as fictive kin). Relatives are the preferred resource for children who must be removed from their birth parents because it maintains the children’s connections with their families. Kinship care is often considered a type of family preservation service.
Kinship care may be formal and involve a training and licensure process for the caregivers, monthly payments to help defray the costs of caring for the child, and support services. Kinship care also may be informal and involve only an assessment process to ensure the safety and suitability of the home along with supportive services for the child and caregivers. Approximately one-fourth of the children in out-of-home care are living with relatives.
Kinship Care Posts
Kinship Care Month & Our New Kinship Corner
Welcome to the wonderful month of September and the celebration of Kinship Month!
I would like to take this opportunity to say ‘thank you’ and to honor all of the kinship caregivers, both formal and informal, in the State of Maryland. We are grateful for all that you do for the children that you serve, and want you to know that we are here to serve and to support you.
As part of this month of celebration we’d like to open up our Kinship Corner, a brand new feature on our website that will serve as a hub of information for this unique care-giving role.
Another special feature this month will be a two-part series of presentations on the Kinship Caregiver role with Sam Macer, a long-term part of the MRPA and currently an MSW and Kinship Navigator Training Specialist at the Child Welfare Academy. Sam will be our guest facilitator for our First Tuesday session on 9/7, then for our follow up Q&A Third Tuesday session on 9/21. The discussion will be on the origins of this special role, how it has evolved over time, what it looks like today and how it might look in the future. Learn more and register here.
If there is anything you’d like to see us provide on our new Kinship Corner page, let us know! Email me at info@mrpa.org with your ideas, they would be most welcome.
We look forward to this month, and to honoring the Kinship Caregivers in Maryland.
Regards,
Arnie Eby
Executive Director, Maryland Resource Parent Association
Quick Links
Kinship Care Resources
MD Dept of Human Services
Click here to view the resources available on their website.
Download their Kinship Care Fact Sheet!
Child Welfare League of America
Click here to view the resources available on their website.
Download the ‘Traditions of Caring & Collaborating’ CAREbook HERE.
Child Welfare Information Gateway (childwelfare.gov)
Resources for Relative and Kinship Caregivers: Legal and Financial Information
Click here to view the resources available on their website.
North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC)
Click here to view the resources available on their website.
Learn more about NACAC’s mission, and jump off to the Annie E. Casey Foundation video series on Kinship Care.
Foster Kinship.org
Click here to view the resources available on their website.
Download valuable PDF guides for various aspects of the Foster Kinship role and visit key websites.
Grandfamilies.org
Click here to view the resources available on their website.
From their website:
The Grandfamilies State Law and Policy Center compiles free and online legal resources in support of grandfamilies within and outside the child welfare system.
The People's Law Library of Maryland
Click here to view the resources available on their website.
View valuable legal resources regarding Formal Kinship Care and Informal Kinship Care.