Do you serve kinship families and are wondering how to best to meet their needs? We talk about kinship navigator programs with Stephanie Perkowski is a Social Worker and Policy Analyst at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago; Julia Donovan, the Program Director of Ohio’s statewide Kinship and Adoption Navigator program, OhioKAN; and Tia-Maria Smith, the Program Director for Pennsylvania KinConnector which helps informal and formal kinship families find the information, resources, and emotional support they need.

In this episode, we cover:

• What are navigator programs?
• Who usually sets up either kinship or adoption navigator programs?
• How are kinship navigator programs funded?
• How to get these programs evidenced-based and why is that important?
• How do kinship or adoptive families find out about them?
• What type of advertising is effective?
• What works in making the site user-friendly?
• What type of resources should be included in navigator programs?
• How to evaluate the effectiveness of navigator programs?

Resources:

• https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-20-434.pdf
• https://www.kinnectohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Research-Synthesis-with-Crosswalk.pdf
• https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/data/status-submitted-title-iv-e-prevention-program-five-year-plans

This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
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