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.
Website resource
Flyer
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.
Summary by First Focus Campaign for Children
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.
More info and how to apply
Virginia Code section regarding enrolling kinship children in school: Section § 22.1-3
Virginia Code section regarding enrolling kinship children in school: § 22.1-3. Persons to whom public schools shall be free.
Virginia Code § 22.1-3
Kinship Care and School Enrollment in Virginia, report for the Virginia Commission on Youth
Kinship Care and School Enrollment in Virginia, report for the Virginia Commission on Youth.
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.
Introduction to Powers of Attorney
Instructions for Power Of Attorney
Education for Immigrant Students and Children of Immigrants, from Legal Aid Justice Center
National Resource Center for Diligent Recruitment
The National Resource Center for Diligent Recruitment, NRCDR website closed on September 29, 2017. The NRCDR website is not being maintained but resources on diligent recruitment remain available.
Kinship webpage from Child Welfare Information Gateway
Supporting Kinship Caregivers Podcast series
Supporting Kinship Caregivers Podcast Series from Child Welfare Information Gateway.
Link to streaming services to listen to part 1 & part 2 of the podcast, or get the transcripts.
Part 1 Website
Transcript Part 1
Part 2 Website
Transcript Part 2
Kinship Treatment Foster Care toolkit
This 2015 toolkit from the Foster Family-based Treatment Association offers an overview of treatment foster care by kinship caregivers.
Hope and Healing for Sensory Deprivation
This booklet provides an overview of Sensory Deprivation or Sensory Processing Disorder. Based on the work of Carol Kranowitz and Karyn Purvis, information on definition, origins, detection & diagnosis, and treatment are included.
The Grandparent’s and Other Relative Caregiver’s Guide to Raising Children with Disabilities from the Children’s Defense Fund
Children’s Defense Fund Guide to Resources for Kinship Families
Grandparents Caring for Grandchildren
Compilation of Kinship Resources
Meeting the Unique Needs of a Growing Population
Kinship Adoption: Meeting the Unique Needs of a Growing Population, from Child Focus.
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
Full report
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.