Kinship care is the full-time care and nurturing of a child by a relative or someone with a significant emotional connection to the child, such as a close family friend, when parents are not able to provide care. When out-of-home care is needed, kinship care is the preferred option because it can reduce trauma and help children maintain family bonds, a sense of belonging, and their identity. Estimates from 2017 suggest that almost 2.6 million children in the United States are being raised in some form of kinship care and for every child in kinship foster care, there are 20 children being raised by relatives outside the child welfare system.

The Kinship Connections program offered by Beech Acres Parenting Center is designed to provide information and resource connection ranging from basic needs, school enrollment, and daycare to resources for legal support and understanding the complex child welfare system. Through the program, kin caregivers receive the following services:

Individualized 1:1 coaching to support enhanced family social-emotional functioning and long-term family economic and social self-sufficiency, including parenting support and system resource navigation. Coaching is rooted within the Natural Strength ParentingTM framework, which draws on ideas from social cognitive theory (e.g., goal-setting and monitoring and self-efficacy) and positive psychology (e.g., mindfulness and strengths) to develop a coaching model within which parents are active collaborators in their goal-setting and behavior change process. This model has been designated as evidence-based within primary care pediatric settings; coaching practices in the Kinship Connections program have been adapted for use with the population served by the Kinship Connections program.

Group parent education classes to enhance knowledge of child development, behavior management, and positive parenting skills. Parent education incorporates evidence-based parent education teaching behavior management and parent-child interaction techniques with positive parenting and mindfulness-based approaches to child and family relationships based in positive psychology and trauma informed care.

Group support sessions provide an opportunity for people to share personal experiences and feelings, discuss ways of coping, and develop community. Coming together with others who have had similar experiences allows people to connect via shared experience. Support groups will focus on helping people realize they are not alone, supporting parents in expressing their feelings through a safe and supportive environment, improving relationship skills and interacting more effectively with others, gaining hope through positive role models, increasing self-understanding, and helping others.

1Generations United. (2017). In loving arms: The protective role of grandparents and other relatives in raising children exposed to trauma. Retrieved from https://dl2.pushbulletusercontent.com/ uhDY7UgdGYnOod6G7VFkdKnuzE3yALmr/17- InLovingArms-Grandfamilies.pdf

Research shows that children benefit from kinship care in many ways. Kinship care can reduce the trauma that children may have previously endured and the trauma that accompanies parental separation by providing them with a sense of stability and belonging in an otherwise unsettling time. Children who have been placed with relatives may have experienced chronic neglect and physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. While these experiences place children at risk for behavioral and health problems, a positive relationship with a caregiver and a stable and supportive living environment can mitigate their impact.1 Grandparents, other relative caregivers, and “fictive kin” — close friends holding a family-like bond with a child — are in a unique position to fill this supportive role and promote resiliency.

The goal of Kinship Connections is to support kin families' social, emotional, and economic needs to increase placement stability within the child’s community. Specific program objectives are to improve family economic security, family relationship functioning, child well-being, and to increase kin caregiver social support.

1Center on the Developing Child. (2007). The impact of early adversity on children’s development (InBrief). Retrieved from https://developingchild.harvard.edu/ resources/inbrief-the-impact-of-early-adversity-onchildrens-development.
2 Generations United. (2017). In loving arms: The protective role of grandparents and other relatives in raising children exposed to trauma. Retrieved from https://dl2.pushbulletusercontent.com/ uhDY7UgdGYnOod6G7VFkdKnuzE3yALmr/17- InLovingArms-Grandfamilies.pdf.

Kinship Connections was evaluated using pre-test and post-test measures of family protective factors and social/economic self-sufficiency from four counties in southwestern Ohio.

The Arizona Self-Sufficiency Matrix was used to assess family economic and social self-sufficiency. Paired t-tests were conducted comparing number of domains in crisis or vulnerable at intake versus follow-up for two groups: all participants for whom pre- and post-test scores were available (Group One), and individuals with one or more domains in crisis or vulnerable status at intake (Group Two). Comparison of the average number of at-risk domains (identified as ”In Crisis” or “Vulnerable”) showed statistically significant reductions between intake and follow-up for both groups:
Group One (N = 108)
o Percent who improved: 50.9%
o Mean number of at-risk domains at baseline (2.74) and follow-up (1.89), p<.0002
Group Two (N = 86)
o Percent who improved: 64.0%
o Mean number of at-risk domains at baseline (3.44) and follow-up (2.28), p<.0001

Clients showed improvement on the Arizona Self-Sufficiency Matrix, regardless of at-risk status at intake or as a function of average score across domains. For both groups, over half of clients showed improvement from first administration to follow-up.

The Protective Factors Scale was used to assess the family protective factors that reduce negative outcomes for children. Paired t-tests were conducted comparing mean scores at intake and follow-up (N = 99). Results were as follows for the protective factors subscales:
Family functioning
o Percent who improved: 30.3%
o Mean number of at-risk domains at baseline (5.35) and follow-up (5.47), p<.27
Social Support
o Percent who improved: 40.4%
o Mean score at baseline (5.45) and follow-up (5.84), p=.003
Concrete Support
o Percent who improved: 51.5%
o Mean score at baseline (5.22) and follow-up (5.55), p=.13
Nurturing and Attachment
o Percent who improved: 27.3%
o Mean score at baseline (6.12) and follow-up (6.20), p=.32

Clients showed statistically significant improvements in social support, with approximately one-quarter to one-half of participants showing improvement on each subscale.