Minnesota Department of Human Services (department) staff will be engaging with partners to analyze the needs of kin caregivers and discuss options for implementing a kinship navigator program in the next few months.
Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) offers states an option of implementing a kinship navigator program that is eligible for federal Title IV-E reimbursement. Programs must meet evidence-based criteria as promising, supported, or well-supported practice and approved on the federal Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse.
The federal Administration for Children and Families defines a kinship navigator program as a “program to assist kinship caregivers in learning about, finding, and using programs and services to meet the needs of the children they are raising and their own needs, and to promote effective partnerships among public and private agencies to ensure kinship caregiver families are served.”
ACYF-CB-PI-18-11 (hhs.gov)
The Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse has approved one kinship navigator program that serves relatives who are caring for children receiving child welfare services. Ohio’s Kinship Supports Intervention/Protect OHIO (hhs.gov)
Department staff are seeking to learn information from licensed foster parents about the supports identified or provided to them by a county or tribal social service agency to meet their needs or the needs of children in their care. Information will be gathered through an anonymous survey sent to foster parents who are currently or have in the past provided foster care to relative children.
Relative foster parents will receive a link to the survey using the email address associated with their foster care license. Department staff will collaborate with county, tribal and private child-placing agencies to distribute the surveys. Results of the survey will be used to inform the work groups.
Department staff will convene workgroups in Nov. 2022 with representatives from county and tribal agencies, community leaders, relative foster parents, youth who have experienced foster care and other external stakeholders, to analyze the identified needs of kin caregivers. Members will discuss kinship navigator models including Protect Ohio and options for implementing a kinship navigator program in Minnesota.
A kinship navigator web page will be added to the FFPSA County Link site in Oct. 2022.
FFPSA County link web page
The web page will provide a central location for program information, updates and will include information on the upcoming Nov.2022 workgroups.
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