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Assessing Kin Caregiver Needs to Provide Responsive Services and Support  

October 30, 2024

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Webinar Wrap-Up: Assessing Kin Caregiver Needs

Kin Caregiver Assessment Tools:

Washington State Kin Caregiver Needs Assessment for its Kinship Navigator services

Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal Kin Caregiver Needs Assessment for its Kinship Parenting Program (adapted from Washington State’s assessment)

National Kin Caregiver Assessment for Kin-Specific Foster Care Licensing:

Additional Related Materials:

National Kin-Specific Model Foster Care Licensing Standards

Child Welfare Playbook

Overview of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe Kinship Parenting Program

Washington State Kinship Program Services


Assessing the needs of kinship/grandfamilies is critical to providing relevant services, capitalizing on their strengths, and helping them overcome their challenges. Explore kinship assessments through several vantage points.  

  • Explore how Washington State’s kinship navigator program is assessing and responding to kin caregiver needs and how Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe’s Children & Family Services has adapted the tool to align with their Kinship Parenting Program’s values, culture, and practices. 
  • Learn about the Kinship Caregiver Assessment in the nationally recommended Kin-Specific Foster Home Approval Standards, which considers the ability of a kin caregiver to care for all the physical, emotional, medical, and educational needs of the child and meets the federal criteria for title IV-E agencies’ assessment of kin caregivers. See how the Assessment was developed based in part on interviews with 24 title IV-E agencies in states, territories, and tribes, and through a co-design process with key stakeholders.  
  • Hear from a panel of kin caregivers on what they recommend as the best approaches to assessing their needs. 

Following the webinar, we hosted a half-hour Q&A session with the presenters.

Presenters:  

Rosalyn Alber, Kinship and Lifespan Respite Program Manager, Home & Community Services, Aging & Long-Term Support Administration, Washington State Department of Social and Health Services 

Asad Bandeali, Bloom Works

Anissa Pérez, Bloom Works

Sonya Silva, Bloom Works

Cheryl A. Miller, Director, Children & Family Services, Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe 

Robyn Wind, GRAND Voices Support Coordinator, National Center on Grandfamilies, Generations United

Minister AnnaMarie White, GRAND Voice