11 December 2023
Starting this January, kinship caregivers in the Kansas City area will have an in-person opportunity to build a support network of fellow caregivers while learning trauma-informed skills through the Kinship Path course. Kinship Path is a free hybrid training course developed by Children’s Alliance of Kansas with 10 facilitated meetings and four online, self-paced trainings. It is open to any kinship parent who desires more peer connection and support navigating the child welfare system.
Charlotte Baker, Manager of Resource Family Development in Kansas, and Alicia Dentler, Clinical Utilization Specialist, work in foster care at Cornerstones of Care and will be the first to offer the class in person since it was presented to the public in March 2022.
“We’re really trying to build up our families to feel more confident with the kids they care for and get more support and resources,” said Charlotte.
The January class will take place Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6-8 p.m. at the Cornerstones of Care KCK location. Topics covered will include creating community with birth parents, considerations for relatives who are raising a child, trauma-informed parenting, and more.
“Our ideal number is 12 to 15 families,” said Charlotte. “Enough to have good conversations and discussions but not so many that people feel uncomfortable or that they’re just a number.”
By completing the Kinship Path course, caretakers receive 26 licensing credit hours if they are pursuing their foster care license. Currently, in Kansas, relatives serving as placements do not need to be licensed by the state, but non-relative kin such as teachers, coaches, and family friends are required to obtain licensure.
Research shows that children placed in kinship care have better outcomes than those placed in traditional, non-kin foster homes. The Kinship Path program is part of a larger effort to identify more qualified kinship foster homes and encourage caregivers to get licensed.
“Up until this point, only a handful of related kin become licensed,” said Charlotte.
Recent policy changes in Kansas have been aimed at lessening the burden of licensing for families to make it easier to get licensed and access the myriad benefits. According to the Children’s Alliance, benefits include financial support, ongoing training and peer networks, and eligibility for respite care up to two days per month by choosing to become licensed as a Kansas foster home.
One reason kinship families may avoid licensure is because they assume that means they must take in other foster children, too, which is one of many myths that providers are trying to dispel.
“I’m hoping that in conjunction with PATH, licensing will be a resource for families, and it won’t be a super strenuous process,” said Charlotte. “I’m really hoping that we will see a full circle of better outcomes, better support for our families, better quality assurance, and take away some of the hoops families have to jump through right now.”
If anyone knows the value of training programs like the Kinship PATH course, it’s Alicia, who unexpectedly became a kinship caregiver herself 12 years ago.
“It can be lonely being a kinship caregiver, and this gives them the opportunity to connect with one another and know they’re not alone,” said Alicia. “Personally, I think it should be mandatory for kinship caregivers to take this training because it’s amazing.”
Today, Alicia is a proud adoptive parent of a 14-year-old and is eager to share her knowledge and experience with parents and families who are walking a similar path.
“With any course, the goal is to have the person who has the real-life lived experience, and Alicia has that,” said Charlotte. “She’s such an amazing resource for families.”
Conversely, Charlotte has 10 years of experience with licensing and foster care and can offer her expertise from the policy side.
“We’re really trying to mesh both of our knowledge sets, and we’re excited,” she said.
Kinship Path is part of The Children’s Alliance’s Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting (MAPP) program and is currently only administered in Kansas, with plans to share it with other states soon. Currently, there are no geographical limitations for joining a course; each course is open to anyone in Kansas, including those not connected to the hosting agency.
To register for this Kinship Path course and other related trainings, visit the Children’s Alliance website.