Setting Up Effective Kinship Navigator Programs

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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