New Opportunity for Support: Bridging Systems for Kinship Families

The ACL-funded Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network, the nation’s first federally funded technical assistance center for those who serve grandparents and other kin caregivers and the children they raise, has announced an opportunity for states, territories, and/or large counties to apply to work with the nation’s leading experts on kinship families.

The Network will select two jurisdictions based on the merit of the applications and provide in-depth support to each. The Network's support will focus on collaborative goals identified by the lead agencies and their partners. Through this opportunity, the Network will provide support — at no cost to the award recipients — 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 two selected jurisdictions will benefit from the expertise of the Network and its parent organization, Generations United, as well as the Network’s five partner agencies: the National Caucus and Center on Black Aging, the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA), USAging, ZERO TO THREE, and Child Trends. NICWA will soon release an application for a similar opportunity specifically for tribes and Native-serving organizations.

Funded by ACL, the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network helps government agencies and nonprofits in states, tribes, and territories work across boundaries to improve supports and services for families in which grandparents, other relatives, or close family friends are raising children.