Government agencies and nonprofit organizations in states, Tribes, and territories around the country have implemented exemplary supports for kinship/grandfamilies. By officially designating these full-service programs and discrete practices as “Exemplary,” the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network: A National Technical Assistance Center (Network) is giving them the recognition they deserve. We have also written profiles to share information about these Exemplary programs and practices so that other providers throughout the United States can learn from and replicate this successful work to support more kinship families more effectively and efficiently.
Exemplary Kinship Practices
In 2025, the Network solicited applications to recognize agencies and organizations that have a discrete practice that allows them to better serve kinship/grandfamilies. As a result of that application and review process, 18 practices in 6 service areas have earned the Exemplary designation:
Assessing and Meeting Caregiver Needs
- Family Needs Scale – Kinship Support Services Program, Wayfinder Family Services (California)
- Kinship Navigation App – Alaska Impact Alliance
- A Partnership to Streamline Access to Public Benefits – Foster Kinship (Nevada)
- Tangible Goods and Emergency Financial Assistance for Families – Kinship Support Program, YMCA Youth & Family Services (California)
Connecting Caregivers to Each Other
- Online Community for Kin – West Virginia Fostering Together
- Peer Liaisons – Kin Carolina (South Carolina)
Implementing Kin-First Child Welfare Strategies
- Centering Tribal Values in Training – Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council (Montana)
- Diligent Search and Engagement – Kinnect (Ohio)
- Kin-First Culture Improvements – ChildNet (Florida)
- Kinship Straight Adopt (Kin-Specific Adoption) – Arrow Child & Family Ministries (Texas)
Offering Respite to Caregivers
- Caregiver Relief Services – Parc Center for Disabilities (Florida)
- Grandfamily Respite Vouchers – Larimer County Office on Aging (Colorado)
- Summer Camp – Respite Services – Direction Home of Eastern Ohio
Providing Legal Services
- Balanced Legal Representation – Kin Support Program – Haa Yatx’u Saani (Alaska)
- Legal Options Website – Creating a Family (North Carolina)
- Statewide Legal Assistance – Legal Advice and Referral for Kinship Care (LAARK), King County Bar Association (Washington State)
Raising Awareness About Kinship Families Statewide
- Kinship Strong – Promoting Community Engagement – Family Education and Support Services (Washington State)
- A Statewide Kinship Commission – The Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
Exemplary Programs
In 2023, the Network solicited applications to recognize agencies and organizations that have a program, practice, or policy that allows them to better serve kinship/grandfamilies. We only received applications from programs. As a result of that application and review process, 17 programs have earned the Exemplary designation. The links below lead to 16 profiles (one of which is a combined profile of two Exemplary programs that work closely together), each of which offers a detailed overview of a program, including its services, staffing, partners, and funding sources.
Bridge Meadows Intergenerational Housing Community – Oregon
Colorado Kinnected – Colorado Department of Human Services
GRANDfamilies Kinship Care at Children’s Service Society of Utah
Grandparent & Close Relative Caregiver Subsidy Programs – District of Columbia
High Country Caregivers – North Carolina
Kids, Kin ‘n Caregivers – Virginia
Kinship Caregivers Connect – Ohio
Kinship Care Project of Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc.
Kinship Empowerment Program at DC KinCare Alliance
Kinship Navigator Program – Area Office on Aging of Northwestern Ohio
Montana Kinship Navigator Program and Kinship Connections of Wyoming
Project Healthy Grandparents – Georgia State University
The Kinship Program – Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine, Inc.
Washington State Kinship Program Services
Please click the links above for a detailed overview of each program, including its services, staffing, partners, and funding sources.
See this two-page document for a collection of quotes from clients of several of these organizations!
About the Process
The Network determined Exemplary Kinship Program, Practice, and Policy status through a multi-step process that began with an open application promoted through our newsletter, social media, our partners, and this website.
The Network first opened applications for Exemplary Programs, Practices, and Policies in early 2023. Although the application was open to kinship practices and policies as well as kinship programs, only kinship programs applied. The Network later released another Exemplary application opportunity in spring 2025 to capture Exemplary practices. With both application opportunities combined, the Network received more than 60 applications for Exemplary Program and Practice designations.
Three Network staff members reviewed and scored all the applications using two different rubrics informed by our evaluator, Child Trends. The rubrics contained 10 criteria for programs and 6 criteria for practices.
Programs Scoring Criteria
- Strengths and needs of the population served are addressed
- Demonstration of success
- Clients/target population engaged in service offerings
- Cross-system collaboration
- Engagement of multiple partners
- Sustainability
- Continuous quality improvement
- Support of kinship families embedded in agency values and principles
- Client demographic and satisfaction data collected
Practices/Policies Scoring Criteria
- Demonstration of success
- Service population (kin caregivers, birth parents of kinship youth, and/or kinship youth) engaged in the development and implementation of the practice
- Community needs are addressed and cultural values of those served are incorporated in service delivery
- Partner engagement and cross-system collaboration
- Continuous quality improvement
- Sustainability
Site Visits/Meetings
The Network arranged visits, many in-person, to each of the programs that scored well across the criteria. A minimum of two Network representatives (consisting of at least one staff member and at least one subject matter expert or representative from a partner organization) visited the programs in summer/fall 2023 to conduct three separate group interviews with program staff, caregivers, and partners. If the visit findings and stakeholder interviews aligned with claims made in the application, the Network was pleased to designate the kinship program as Exemplary. Sixteen programs have been designated as Exemplary.
Similarly, Network staff, with the support of a Network subject matter expert or partner, arranged meetings with Exemplary practice applicants that scored well across the criteria. For practices that directly impacted clients, meetings were also conducted with kin caregivers. If the findings and stakeholder interviews aligned with claims made in the application, the Network was pleased to designate the kinship practice as Exemplary. Eighteen practices have been designated as Exemplary.
The Network received many impressive applications for programs and practices representing multiple systems and jurisdictions across the nation. While not all moved forward to receive Exemplary status, we are appreciative of all the applicants’ time and interest in this project. The Network offered assistance to organizations and agencies that applied for an Exemplary Program or Practice designation but did not quite meet the criteria. The Network has also provided intensive technical assistance to a cohort of community-based programs, mainly caregiver-led, that were not designated as Exemplary due to issues around their own capacity, including funding sustainability. Two of those programs made recommended changes and have been designated as Exemplary.
