Research documents that kinship families want and need support, and effectively engaging them is key. This begins with trust and mutual respect, which does not fit in with transactional checkboxes, but with a relational approach. By centering lived experience, creating welcoming environments, and listening to what caregivers say they need, one can successfully build authentic relationships that will connect families to both formal systems and community-based support. 

The Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network will host a free webinar on January 21, 2026 from 2:00 p.m. ET to 3:30 p.m. ET, offering some key elements of building trust for lasting partnerships with kin. Presenters will focus on: 

• Building trust through lived experience, empathy, listening, and holding space for personal stories;
• Ensuring caregiver representation as key stakeholders in all aspects of the organization;
• Designing safe and welcoming physical and virtual spaces that reflect caregiver needs;
  • Considerations for accessibility (i.e., transportation, childcare, internet/device access, flexible times, etc.);
  • Matching service options to caregivers’ individual strengths and needs;
• Emphasizing hospitality and customer service;
• Using a bottom-up approach to programming that responds to what caregivers ask for;
• Practicing trauma-informed outreach to reduce barriers and foster connection; and
• Serving as a bridge to both formal services and informal community supports once trust is built.

While some studies have shown the effectiveness of Family Resource Centers (FRCs) – which provide critical services to families to increase their access to supports for basic needs, support accessing public benefits, and skill-building classes – in individual communities or states, less research has examined services provided by FRCs across states.

To help fill the gap, this Child Trends study aims to gain a better understanding of the services FRCs provide across the country—and particularly of how FRCs work with young parents (under age 25), how they help young parent-led families access public benefits, and whether/how they provide services to young parent-led families involved with the child welfare system.

Families thrive when their communities are strong and connected. Yet too often, families face barriers to resources that support well-being, like lack of affordable childcare, safe housing, mental health supports, or job opportunities—barriers that can spiral into crises and even child welfare involvement. To address these challenges, Lutheran Services in America launched the Family Stabilization Initiative (FSI) in 2021. In its first four years, the FSI engaged nearly 1,000 families across six communities in four states, demonstrating how locally driven, wraparound supports can prevent crises before they occur. As part of this effort, Lutheran Services in America partnered with Chapin Hall to develop the Community Building and Mobilization Framework, which provides practical strategies rooted in principles that shift the focus from short-term fixes to long-term, transformational relationships.

This Chapin Hall webpage connects readers with the framework (for download) and a recording that highlights how organizations are translating this vision into action.

This Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network tipsheet provides information about kinship families and the challenges they face and presents ideas to help faith communities better serve these families.

The Institute for Research on Poverty and the Wisconsin Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board co-hosted a webinar in November 2025 to highlight the unique challenges and distinct barriers young fathers experience when participating in child and family services. This webinar explored their needs, including those parenting with a partner and those parenting as single fathers, and featured evidence-informed practices, policy approaches, and program models that support fathers in helping their families thrive.

While an effective intake assessment helps build an initial impression of each father’s individual situation and needs, fatherhood program staff also know ongoing one-on-one and group interaction is needed to fully understand him and see who he might become. Even then, it can be hard to accurately follow his progress through the program and ensure his needs are met in the best way possible. This National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse brief presents an overview of customer journey mapping, an evidence-based tool that helps program administrators and staff members reflect on a father’s journey through a program and make service adjustments based on the father’s perspective as he progresses through that program.

This National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse publication serves as a resource for program operators seeking information on available curricula designed for working with fathers. While not a comprehensive list, it provides an overview of curricula used by programs funded by the Office of Family Assistance within the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Administration for Children and Families announced the launch of “A Home for Every Child,” a national initiative aimed at right-sizing the ratio of foster homes to the number of kids in the foster care system. The initiative will focus on both sides of the equation — increasing the availability of safe homes through diligent recruitment, prioritizing kin, and improving retention of existing caregivers while reducing entries into foster care through effective prevention and faster pathways to permanency. ACF plans to leverage all $11.4 billion of its annual federal funding for foster care and child welfare to advance this mission and will come alongside state agencies to give broad latitude, flexibility, and technical support to reimagine community-specific interventions. ACF will eliminate outdated bureaucratic barriers that discourage families from stepping forward, including streamlining foster family licensing, supporting kinship caregivers, and encouraging faith-based partnerships to expand the network of caring families.

Ongoing supports for children and their foster, adoptive, and kinship families can provide increased stability and well-being. Unfortunately, many families may not know about available support services or may be reluctant to access them. This AdoptUSKids resource offers ten strategies that agencies can adopt to inform families about support services. It is particularly important to make sure families are both aware of services and understand that needing support is common, so they are willing and able to reach out early when challenges are typically easier to resolve.