The Child Welfare Information Gateway created a five-part podcast series that illustrated ways that states and tribal jurisdictions have supported kinship caregivers. Part 4 of this series explores the public-private partnership between FosterKinship and the state of Nevada. FosterKinship supports the state by providing both kinship navigator services and foster care licensing services, reducing the number of offices and agencies with which families have to interact to adapt and prepare for becoming a kinship family. FosterKinship also provides programs and services to connect kinship families with services or resources they need to raise healthy children. Topics discussed include:

• Kinship caregivers’ challenge to learn about and access available services and supports,
• The value of combining kinship navigator and foster care licensing services, and
• How reducing the number of points of contact for families helps create stronger, more trusting relationships with the child welfare system.

Both inside and outside the child welfare system, the probability that African American children will live in grandfamilies is more than double that of the overall population, with one in five African American children living in grandfamilies at some point during their childhood. This toolkit is designed to give resources and tips to child welfare agencies, other government agencies, and nonprofit organizations, so they can better serve all African American grandfamilies. It also explores some of the unique strengths and challenges of these grandfamilies, which agencies and organizations need to recognize to provide culturally appropriate supportive services.

A disproportionate number of children in grandfamilies are African American. While African American children comprise 14 percent of all children in the United States, they make up over 25 percent of all children in grandfamilies and 23 percent of all children in foster care. The long history in the United States of enslavement, segregation, economic injustice, and institutional racism contributes to this overrepresentation in the foster care system, and likely also contributes to the larger percentage of African American children in informal grandfamilies. This tip sheet is designed as a quick reference tool for kinship care service providers and advocates, meant to help them design and provide culturally sensitive services to grandfamilies and kinship families who identify as “Black” and “African American.” It also serves as a guide for staff orientation/training to work in this community.

Culturally appropriate services are needed to support Latino families as they navigate kinship care placements, which appeal to the family system fundamental to Latino culture. This toolkit fills a critical gap to help organizations and individuals across the country enhance their understanding and skills to help children and caregivers in grandfamilies thrive. The concrete tools include information on the diversity of Latinos and how to serve them with cultural competence that leverages their many strengths, the benefits and strengths of preserving and restoring cultural identity, as well as practice and policy recommendations for addressing systemic racism and biases that limit existing support to Latino grandfamilies and the children they raise.

Latino children are much more likely than non-Latino white children to live in multigenerational households where three or more generations live, and where the grandparents or other kin may be providing a significant amount of caregiving. Multigenerational caregiving is one of the Latino community’s many cultural strengths. This tip sheet is designed as a quick reference tool for practitioners – including social workers, government and nonprofit workers, and community leaders working with grandfamilies and kinship families who identify as Latino, Latina, or Latinx – to help them provide services in a way that is culturally sensitive and effective. It also serves as a guide for staff orientation/training to work in this community.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance hosted the 2022 Regions IX and X Virtual Tribal TANF and NEW Technical Assistance Meeting on August 23-25, 2022. The Strengthening Partnerships Between Tribal TANF and Child Welfare session was targeted to Tribal TANF programs interested in coordinating programming with Child Welfare, specifically for tribes that did not have a Tribal TANF-Child Welfare (TTCW) grant. It was also applicable for participants that were considering applying for a TTCW grant in the future. Participants learned about resources available for increasing coordination, including the Resource Toolbox for Tribal TANF-Child Welfare Coordination Projects, the Continuous Quality Improvement framework, and the Collaboration Assessment Tool.

This article lists symptoms of historical trauma and cites the negative impact of historical trauma as part of the explanation behind Native American mental health issues. Further, the article identifies examples of trauma recovery programs that are found to be successful for Native Americans and Alaskan Natives. These programs include: Beyond Trauma, a culturally specific recovery group created by South Dakota Urban Indian Health; the Tanana Chiefs Conference Old Minto Family Recovery Camp, an Athabascan alternative to substance abuse treatment; the Red Road to Wellbriety, a culturally appropriate mutual help approach based on Lakota/Nakota/Dakota world views; wellness courts; and Drum-Assisted Recovery Therapy for Native Americans.

This chartbook presents data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia on 15 mental health measures of adults and youth. While the dataset is not a complete picture of the mental health system, the collection of tables and rankings provides a strong foundation for understanding the prevalence of mental health concerns, as well as issues of access to insurance and treatment, particularly as that access varies among the states. Youth data and state rankings in the chartbook cover seven measures: Youth with At Least One Major Depressive Episode (MDE) in the Past Year, Youth with Substance Use Disorder in the Past Year, Youth with Severe MDE, Youth with MDE who Did Not Receive Mental Health Services, Youth with Severe MDE who Received Some Consistent Treatment, Youth with Private Insurance that Did Not Cover Mental or Emotional Problems, and Students Identified with Emotional Disturbance for an Individualized Education Program.

This Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) webpage highlights resources on youth behavioral health from the Federal Government, including: an Advisory from the Surgeon General on Protecting Youth Mental Health; the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Bright Futures Program, School-Based Health Alliance, and Health Center Program School-Based Service Sites; new policy guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; the Administration for Children and Families’ implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act; joint funding from SAMHSA and the Office of Minority Health to strengthen and expand children and youth community mental health services and suicide prevention programs; and new funding under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

Approximately 1.3 percent of the U.S. population, or roughly 4.2 million Americans, identify themselves as having Native American or Alaska Native heritage. Native/Indigenous people in America report experiencing serious psychological distress 2.5 times more than the general population over a month’s time. This Native and Indigenous Communities and Mental Health webpage includes an infographic on the number of Native Americans/Alaskan Natives who reported having a mental illness as well as resources on demographics/societal issues, cultural factors, prevalence, treatment issues, and access/insurance.