Kinship Navigator
The Kinship Navigator Program was created to support caregivers who have taken on the primary role and responsibility of caring for their relatives’ children between the ages of birth to 18. Caregivers can be a grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling, or non-blood related kin. Children include the caregiver’s siblings, nieces, nephews, or grandchildren. Kinship assists caregivers in learning about, locating, and using programs and services to meet the needs of the children they are raising, in addition to their own needs as caregivers.
Caregivers receive help navigating through local, state, and federal forms of assistance to determine their eligibility and guidance through the Kinship permanency process to obtain Legal Guardianship or Adoption to establish a legal commitment to the child. The program works to identify and address the family’s holistic needs, stressors, health, safety, and well-being while incorporating a family-driven approach to support and strengthen their kinship care arrangements.