The Children’s Home Society of New Jersey provides dedicated supportive services for kin caregivers that enrich the New Jersey Navigator Program. Through the Kinship Cares Enhanced Kinship Navigator Program, ombudsmen — or advocates – develop trust and rapport with families, working intensively with caregivers through service planning, information sharing and assessment, facilitated connections for services, crisis prevention and support, and advocacy with school systems and service providers. One-on-one support is complemented by workshops, support groups and social activities, fostering social connections among families. Activities are for caregivers and children of all ages.
These services enrich core services CHSofNJ provides as a partner in the New Jersey Kinship Navigator Program:
- Community outreach
- Linkages and referral to resources
- Assistance with Kinship Wraparound financial assistance application, including home visit with safety check and help assembling needed documents
- Support for pursuing Kinship Legal Guardianship of kin children
- Annual Kinship Picnic, Kinship Brunch and Kinship Winter Holiday Party
Leonard Feldman, Ph.D., evaluated the Kinship Cares program model using an experimental design from 2009 through 2012, with results published in the peer-reviewed journal Child Welfare (volume 95, No. 4) and listed on The California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare. Kinship Cares was selected for review as part of the Federal Title IV-E Prevention Clearinghouse. The Kinship Cares Enhanced Navigator Program Research and Materials Summary below shows how the program aligns with Initial Practice Criteria for clearinghouse. Please see our evaluation, program manual and supportive documents below.
We invite you to contact us to learn more about Kinship Cares and our other effective and evaluated kinship services. CHSofNJ is developing a fee-based technical support packages to help adapt Kinship Cares for different communities’ specific needs, including opportunities to participate in virtual or on-site coaching, consultation and training to help your agency. Contact Dolores A. Bryant, MSW, LCSW, CHSofNJ Vice President for Trauma Informed Child Welfare and Kinship Services.
Additional technical assistance materials such as a detailed Kinship Cares evaluation report; a comprehensive Kinship Cares program manual; and various implementation tools are available upon request. Please contact Tera Kligerman 800.396.4518 or tkligerman@chsofnj.org for further information.