Generations United's 2016 State of Grandfamilies: Raising Children of the Opioid Epidemic explores the impact of the opioid epidemic on grandfamilies and ways we can help support these families.

 

The Model Foster Home Licensing Standards were featured in a The Chronicle of Social Change article highlighting policy recommendations made this summer by the participants of the Foster Youth Internship Program (FYI), a group of 12 former foster youths who have completed congressional internships overseen each summer by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute.

 

Children Thrive in Grandfamilies - fact sheet on how children fare better in grandfamilies and the unique problems they face (2016).

 

Judicial Tip Sheet for judges to question kin first preference for placements and to encourage maintaining family connections for all children. Developed by NCJFCJ and ABA with support from the Annie E Casey Foundation.  

This primer addresses questions about Live Scan fingerprinting technology and how it can help child welfare agencies streamline the process for conducting criminal background checks. The primer provides background on Live Scan, differing state rules for accessing the technology, and other key considerations for child welfare agencies. 

The 2015 State of Grandfamilies in America report identifies key state laws and policies specifically designed to address barriers and better support grandparents and other relatives raising children. This report highlights the top states providing supportive public policies for Grandfamilies as well as the latest numbers related to kinship families.

 

Every Kid Needs a Family: Giving Children in the Child Welfare System the Best Chance for Success,  a  new KIDS COUNT Policy Report highlights the urgent need to ensure that everything possible is being done to find loving, nurturing and supported families for children in foster care. Every Kid Needs a Family: Giving Children in the Child Welfare System the Best Chance for Success shows how state and local government leaders and communities can work together to help the 57,000 children in foster care who are living in group placements on any given night. The report also offers ways in which residential treatment can help young people return to families more quickly.

 

The American Bar Association, Center on Children and the Law,  the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Generations United, and the National Association for Regulatory Administration in partnership developed Model Foster Family Licensing Standards. These standards are the first ever family foster home licensing standards to protect children and ease the way for caregivers to become foster parents. See standards and accompanying materials. 

 

Implementing the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (P.L. 113-183) to Benefit Children and Youth  is a helpful resource which includes a summary and rationale for each of the Act’s provisions and answers a number of questions being asked about it's implementation.  An implementation timeline of the Act’s various provisions is also included. This brief is a collaborative effort of the Children’s Defense Fund, Child Welfare League of America, First Focus, Generations United, Foster Family-based Treatment Association and Voice for Adoption. It will be updated as additional questions or clarification come forward and further issuances from the Children’s Bureau are released.
 

The State of Grandfamilies in America: 2014 shines a light on the challenges grandfamilies face and the incredible service they provide our country. The report includes an infographic that shows 7.8 million children live in grandfamilies, where grandparents or other relatives are the householders and offers recommendations to help guide the development of supportive policies and services for grandfamilies.

 

The U.S. Census Bureau report - Coresident Grandparents and Their Grandchildren: 2012 explores the complexity of households in which grandparents and grandchildren live together. It uses data from the 2010 Census, the American Community Survey (ACS), the Current Population Survey (CPS), and the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP).

 

This practical publication and its summary have a "checklist" of specific policies, programs, and policies that can help state and community policymakers and advocates improve grandfamilies' access to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Policy Brief publication. Summary.

 

State Educational and Health Care Consent Laws is a policy brief that uses specific examples and language from the states with educational and health care consent laws. This practical publication is designed to give policymakers and advocates the tools they need to pursue similar legislation or amend their existing state laws. See summary here.  

Grand Resources: A Fact Sheet for Grandparent and Relative Caregivers to Help Access Support is a factsheet created by Generations United with support from the Annie E. Casey foundation which provides valuable information for grandfamilies who wish to access TANF.

 

Generations United developed Grand Resources: A Grandparent’s and Other Relative’s Guide to Raising Children with Disabilities to equip the caregivers with the national resources they need to help their children thrive, now and in the future. 

A new report, The Kinship Diversion Debate: Policy and Practice Implications for Children, Families and Child Welfare Agencies, explores different perspectives on the practice of diverting children from child welfare.