The Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network is the first-ever national technical assistance center for those who serve grandfamilies and kinship families. The Network exists, free of charge, to offer a new way for government agencies and nonprofit organizations in states, tribes, and territories to collaborate and work across jurisdictional and systemic boundaries—all to improve supports and services for grandfamilies and kinship families. Its work is rooted in cultural competence and linguistically appropriate approaches and is fully accessible to people with disabilities.

The Congressionally mandated Advisory Council to Support Grandparents Raising Grandchildren spent two years understanding how to better support kinship families and grandfamilies.

Even though they are professionals working in the child advocacy field and grandparents raising children themselves, they talked to the experts and they listened to focus groups. They also launched a formal Request for Information (RFI) that yielded over 1,900 comments from more than 300 respondents across the nation.

The result of that effort is this document, which includes a list of resources and best practices for kinship families and grandfamilies and the professionals who support them.

This informative guide from the Minnesota Kinship Caregivers Association is a strong foundation that covers a lot of the basics that many grandfamilies may need to address during their journey.