KINSHIP CARE - What's Happening In Your State?

Many excellent events and communications are happening regarding kinship care issues all across our country. Here are a few that have been sent to us. We will try to keep an update of such events as they come to us.
Minnesota
From Sharon Durken of the Minnesota Kinship Caregivers Association (MKCA). We at MKCA are excited and honored to share this news. MKCA has been selected by Brookdale Foundation as one of 6 finalists in competition to receive the first ever national Janet Sainer Award.
The Janet Sainer award seeks to honor the legacy of a special consultant to the Brookdale Foundation Group, where she focused on the issues faced by grandparents and other relatives raising children.
The information should be posted on the Brookdale web-site www.brookdalefoundation.org
With regards,
Sharon
Sharon Durken, Executive Director
Minnesota Kinship Caregivers Assoc. (MKCA)
www.mkca.org

Ohio
Kinship News is now available online from the Area Office on Aging of NW Ohio Newsletter at www.areaofficeonaging.com Area Office on Aging of NW Ohio 2155 Arlington Avenue Toledo OH 43609

Michigan
We all know that substance abuse plays a primary role in the breakdown of families often resulting in kinship care of the children. The Michigan Prevention Association, sponsors of March as Parent Awareness Month (PAM), is holding the Spring Prevention Advocacy Event, Thursday April 2, Room 424 at the Capitol in Lansing. For more information www.yourmpa.org

Illinois
Illinois Task Force on Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Children Quarterly Meeting is Tuesday, March 31, 2009, 10:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Hoogland Center for the Arts 420 South Sixth Street Springfield, IL 62701
Please RSVP by Wednesday, March 25 to Barb Schwartz by phone (217/524-5327) or email Barb.Schwartz@illinois.gov

TWO IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS
Kinship Trends Report
Casey Family Programs from the Ann E. Casey Foundation has recently published a valuable report on State Kinship Care Policies for Children That Come to the Attention of Child Welfare Agencies. The full report, Findings from the 2007 Casey Kinship Foster Care Policy Survey by Tiffany Allen, Kerry DeVooght, Rob Geen can be found at
http://www.childtrends.org/Files//Child_Trends-2009_02_24_FR_KinshipCare.pdf
Check the Executive Summary page for a good overview. [Thanks to Generations United www.gu.org for notification of the report]

Fostering Connections Reference Guide
New Help for Children Raised by Grandparents and Other Relatives: Questions and Answers About the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 , for use as a resource tool, implementation, and monitoring of compliance of the Fostering Success Bill. The final document has connections from the questions and answers directly to the part of the bill. Contact Stefanie Sprow of Children’s Trust Fund at ssprow@childrensdefense.org to request a copy. [Thanks to Pat Owens of Grandfamilies of America for this information, www.grandfamiliesofamerica.org]

The capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest meaning and significance. Pablo Casals [Thanks Barb S for the timely quote]
Tita