Kinship Families
Engaging Families in Mental Health and Disability Services tip sheet
This one pager from the new Northern Virginia Family Network (NVFN) designed for professional staff who work with families and youth. It offers some brief, straightforward suggestions and reminders about effectively communicating and building partnerships with families who are in need of education, mental health, disability and other services and supports.
Members of the NVFN are found on the back of the flyer.
Raising and Working with Children and Youth in Foster Care or Living with Kin: Your Guide to Resources in Virginia
This Guide from Virginia Family Special Education Connection offers families and professionals links to state- and local-specific resources for enrolling students, education, medical care, mental health, transitioning students to post-secondary settings, courts, and other areas.
Summary of Family First Prevention Act
Signed into law in February 2018, the Family First Prevention Act reforms child welfare funding streams and focuses on prevention supports for families “at risk” of foster care, and adds supports for kinship navigation and other kinship initiatives.
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) information on who is considered “Parent” for financial aid
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) information on who is considered “Parent” for financial aid.
If you are considered a dependent student for FAFSA® purposes, you will need to provide information about your legal parent(s) on the application. A legal parent is your biological or adoptive parent, or your legal parent as determined by the state (for example, if the parent is listed on your birth certificate). If you have a stepparent currently married to your legal parent, you generally also must provide information about him or her.
Power of Attorneys: Introduction, from Legal Aid Justice Service
Introduction to Powers of Attorney including answering what is a Power of Attorney, what are the benefits of executing (completing and signing) a Power of Attorney.
Instructions for Power Of Attorney including steps for the agent to perform.
Generations United/The State of Grandfamilies Report 2017- In Loving Arms: The Protective Role of Grandparents and Other Relatives in Raising Children Exposed to Trauma
September 01, 2017In Loving Arms: The Protective Role of Grandparents and Other Relatives in Raising Children Exposed to Trauma
Guide: Grand Resources: A Grandparent’s and Other Relative’s Guide to Raising Children with Disabilities
Grand Resources: A Grandparent’s and Other Relative’s Guide to Raising Children with Disabilities, from Generations United
Are you a grandparent or other relative raising another family member’s child? You are not alone. Grandfamilies – or extended family members and close family friends and the children they raise – are growing in numbers. More than 2.7 million children are being raised in grandfamilies without any parents in the home. Although we don’t know how many, we believe many of the children in grandfamilies have disabilities or special needs. Often they may have disabilities because of the situations that led to them being cared for in a grandfamily. Some of them may develop disabilities if they do not receive services to help them while they are young.
The guide seeks to answer some of the most often asked questions from grandfamilies like yours who have children with disabilities.