Affordable housing is the focus of Generations United's 2019 State of Grandfamilies report.  Although affordable housing is a challenging issue for many Americans, grandfamilies are in a unique situation. The caregivers are often responding to an urgent situation with little to no planning time to find suitable housing and no legal relationship to the children. Join Generations United in taking action on concrete recommendations to replicate housing innovations for grandfamilies.

This second in a series of Family First briefs focuses on Leveraging the Family First Prevention Services Act to Improve Use of Title IV-E GAP in states and tribes.  This brief contains an analysis on the impact of this new law on GAP  and provides action steps to promote its use for children in relative care.

Children's Defense Fund has recently released the Implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act Guide created in partnership with ChildFocus, American Academy of Pediatrics, Generations United, FosterClub, Juvenile Law Center, and National Indian Child Welfare Association.  The guide is a question-and-answer-style resource containing commonly asked questions about the many important provisions in Family First. 

The Children’s Bureau released final National Model Foster Family Home Licensing Standards, as required by the Family First Prevention Services Act.  See Generations United’s FAQ on the National Model, the NARA Model and the reporting requirements as well as a crosswalk tool designed to help states and tribes compare their standards with both Models.

Grand Resource: Help for Grandfamilies Impacted by Opioids and Other Substance Use provides tips, practical information and a list of additional resources to help grandfamilies inside and outside the foster care system impacted by opioids or other substance use.

This brief and accompanying chart developed by Generations United with support from the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption compare adoption and guardianship as two for children in kinship foster care, so that these children can exit foster care into permanent families (2018).

Family First brief that highlights provisions that help kinship families, along with steps caregivers, advocates, and other leaders can take to help implement the Family First Act. Includes a chart comparing services and supports for kin before and after the Family First Act. 2018.

Generations United 's 2018 State of Grandfamilies Report -  Love Without Borders: Grandfamilies and Immigration  highlights  hurdles faced by grandfamilies who come together because of a parent’s detention or deportation. Hurdles include: restricted access to supports and services , language barriers, and fear of government agencies. This report contains  concrete policy and program recommendations .

Considerations for Federal Register Comments to the proposed Model National Family Foster Home Licensing Standards as required by the Family First Prevention Services Act, developed jointly by National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA), Generations United & American Bar Association (ABA) Center on Children and the Law.

What Would You Want for Your Child? — What the Family First Prevention Services Act Offers to Children in Grandfamilies by Jaia Lent, Deputy Executive Director, Generations United was written to clarify the benefits of the Family First Prevention Services Act to kin and other interested stakeholders.

The ABA Center on Children and the Law is pleased to share Immigration Issues in the Child Welfare System: Case Studies. This resource provides guidance on how to navigate a number of scenarios in which children and their families may benefit from support services but face intersecting immigration and child welfare legal challenges.

The Family First Prevention Services Act was signed into law on 2/9/18. This summary details how it will help grandfamilies with increased federal funding for Kinship Navigator Programs, up to 12 months of prevention services  for children, birth parents and kin caregivers and addressing barriers to licensing relatives as foster parents. The law also does a number of things to prioritize families for children over group care and assist older youth.  

US Department of Health and Human Services Guardianship Brief entitled, Title IV-E GAP Programs: A Work in Progress, contains information the program’s implementation including GAP program utilization, similarity to Adoption Assistance expansion efforts, cost of the program, barriers to the program’s use and its impact on other permanency options. 

This special Kinship Edition of the American Bar Association's Child Law Practice (CLP) contains articles on resources for grandparents raising the children of the opioid epidemic, working with immigrant kinship caregivers and more. CLP is a free online resource  from he ABA Center on Children and the Law and may be accessed at www.childlawpractice.org. To sign up for CLP Alerts, send an email to clptoday@americanbar.org. 

The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s released a five-part video training series, “Engaging Kinship Caregivers: Managing Risk Factors in Kinship Care” featuring internationally respected kinship care expert, Dr. Joseph Crumbley,  to strengthen the skills of child welfare professionals in supporting families to improve outcomes for children. The series includes a discussion guide to help lead group sessions to deepen the learning experience.

Summary and implications of a Kentucky case sent to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Since the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal, the earlier ruling  from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stands. The court ruled that the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services  must pay relatives who take in foster children even if not fully licensed.

Immigrant Caregivers: The Implications of Immigration Status on Foster Care Licensure 

This fact sheet reviews state licensing standards related to immigrant caregivers serving as placement resources for children in the child welfare system.  Summary of fact sheet also available here. 

These 52 fully updated state-specific GrandFacts Fact Sheets provide:

• Data
• Key state and local programs and resources
• Public benefits
• Educational assistance
• Legal relationship options
• State laws

The Model Foster Home Licensing Standards were featured in a The Chronicle of Social Change article highlighting policy recommendations made this summer by the participants of the Foster Youth Internship Program (FYI), a group of 12 former foster youths who have completed congressional internships overseen each summer by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute.

Children Thrive in Grandfamilies - fact sheet on how children fare better in grandfamilies and the unique problems they face (2016).