It’s All Relative: Kinship Support.
First Thursday of every month from 7:00 – 8:00 pm at this zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89347888148
Drop by for kinship resources, help with licensing, and answers to your kinship questions.
Are you raising a child of a family member or a family friend? Your circumstance means you have joined the community in a unique way. As a kinship caregiver, you are dealing with special dynamics, and navigating through the system in a specific way. You’re looking for family-focused resources, and we are here to help.
Almost half the children placed in out-of-home care by the Department of
Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) are placed with a relative or person known to the child and/or family. The financial, legal, and emotional issues of raising a relative’s child can be challenging.
We are here to help assist and provided resources for:
· Unlicensed care of a relative placement
· Foster licensing to care for a relative placement
· Guardianship
· R-Gap
· Adoption
In addition to the Resource Library listed below, you may need more individualized support. Please feel free to contact our Kinship Coordinator, Luanne Marshall by email lmarsh3@uw.edu or call 206-221-4913.
Please fill out this form for more information on fostering and a member of the CaRES team will contact you with an email and phone call introducing you to our program and to see how we may help support you.
Resource Library
Foster Parenting and Kinship Care Newsletter
News, information and updates from The Department of Children, Youth, and Families.
Kinship Navigators and Support Groups
A directory of Kinship Navigators, resource persons, and support groups.
Taking Care of Yourself While Raising Your Grandchildren
Focusing on your physical, mental and financial health is critical if you are your grandchild’s primary caregiver. Find resources for legal, health, financial and other needs in this article from RetireGuide.
Child-Only TANF
Child-only TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). This type of TANF is not based on income and kinship caregivers are eligible in most instances. You can apply for TANF online.
How to Apply for Child-Only TANF
Our partners at the Department of Social and Health Services developed this video to walk you through how to complete a TANF application.
Did You Know? - Services and Supports for Grandparents and Relatives Raising Children
The resource guide covers multiple services and resources available to kinship caregivers.
Options for Grandparents and Other Nonparental Caregivers
There are a variety of legal issues that many relatives raising children face. To help provide information, chick the link for DSHS resource list.
Commonly Used Acronyms
A guide to help you understand commonly used acronyms in Children’s Services.
The Child Welfare Team
A guide to the different roles of people associated with a child welfare case.
Stay Up-to-Date
Sign up to receive monthly schedules and highlights of upcoming trainings you might be interested in!
Journey Toward Licensure
Becoming licensed for Kinship care can feel overwhelming. Just take it one step at a time. Keep this checklist handy to track your progress or reference as you’re moving forward! (You can check things off in whichever order works for you.)
Un camino hacia la licencia
Si decide querer seguir adelante, puede echar un vistazo a la lista de verificación adjunta "Un camino hacia la licencia". Esta lista resalta los pasos del proceso para que pueda hacer un seguimiento su progreso fácilmente.
Guide to Free and Discounts for Foster & Kinship Caregivers
Your best resource for community programs is your local CaRES Mentor. The Alliance CaRES program does not support or endorse any of the listed items; they are compiled for your convenience.
Adoption and Guardianship for Children in Kinship Foster Care
This chart is designed to help kinship foster parents compare adoption and guardianship as two options that you and the children in your care can pursue to exit foster care and create permanent families.
LGBTQIA+ Resources
The CaRES program has a new site as a one stop for LGBTQIA+ resources. If you missed the CaRES kicking off PRIDE Month Celebration, listen to the recording to learn about different eras of PRIDE and hear stories and resources. Discover and sign up for one of our LGBTQIA+ support groups. Learn how to show support from day one with FREE PRIDE + CaRES items!
Kinship Core Training (KCT)
KCT is designed to help kinship caregivers develop the skills they need to care for children who have experienced complex trauma. KCT is intended to meet the training requirements for those kinship caregivers pursuing licensing.
Foster Parent and Kinship Caregiver FAQs
More helpful information on being a foster parent.
Allegations and Investigations
Investigations can be stressful times. Get Support through an allegation.
Foster Care Centers of Excellence
Centers of Excellence are recognized as multidisciplinary medical centers where youth in the child welfare system can receive coordinated healthcare services. Children and youth in foster care and adoption support can see high quality, trauma-informed primary care providers. These providers understand the needs of child welfare involved families.
Supporting Youth in Foster Care with the gift of FREE Books!
If you are caring for children between the ages of birth up to five years old, they are eligible to receive a FREE book in the mail each month through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library! Dolly Parton's Imagination Library mails high quality, age appropriate books to children each month, at no cost to the family. These books are carefully selected and personalized with the child’s name when they arrive in the mail.
