Motivated by her lived experience as part of a kinship family, Dr. Angela Tobin founded Kinship Caregivers Connect (KCC) as a graduate student at The Ohio State University, in June 2020. KCC is a virtual, peer-led support group for Ohio’s kinship caregivers, and Dr. Tobin was able to start the program when she was awarded the Columbus-Athens Albert Schweitzer Fellowship through The Ohio State University and Ohio University. The fellowship provides a one-year $3,000 grant to support projects fulfilling unmet needs in the community. KCC provides social connection, informative trainings, and support for the holistic well-being of families who participate. A combination of strong partnerships, innovative services, and thoughtful engagement of kinship caregivers in program development and implementation make KCC an exemplary program.
KCC’s mission is to empower kinship caregivers in their roles by providing resources, education, and peer connections to support their well-being and help their families thrive. KCC equips and connects kinship caregivers to help them experience the richness of their role in the children’s lives.
In September 2021, KCC officially partnered with Ohio Kinship and Adoption Navigators (OhioKAN), which is funded by the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, and OhioKAN continues to fund KCC today. The program was incorporated as a nonprofit in 2025 and is in the process of applying for official 501(c)(3) tax status.
Eligibility for Services and Intake
The program serves any kinship caregiver in the state of Ohio, whether or not they are involved in child welfare. KCC is very inclusive of the variety of kinship family structures. Any relative or fictive kinship caregiver in Ohio can participate, even those who are preparing to step in but are not yet caring full-time and those whose role has become supportive rather than full-time due to the kin child’s reunification with their parents.
The state kinship navigator program, OhioKAN, refers families to the support group, as do agencies such as the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, schools, aging offices, and more. Caregivers can also self-refer and have an option to be contacted by completing an online form. One caregiver mentioned that she found the program by doing an online search.
When a kinship caregiver reaches out or is contacted after being referred, a KCC staff member conducts a formal intake assessment, developed in-house by Dr. Tobin, by phone, to gather information to get to know the caregiver and understand their strengths and needs. The caregiver can begin attending groups when they are ready, and Dr. Tobin shares relevant resources.
Service Population
KCC reaches more than 300 caregivers each week through email newsletters, and 12 to 20 caregivers participate in each support group meeting. Every month, KCC directly serves about 50 families. More than half of the participants are grandparents caring for one or two grandchildren. Aunts, siblings, cousins, and fictive kin are also involved. A large majority are women. Based on responses from a recent survey, approximately two-thirds of participants identify as white, one-third as Black, and 1% other/unknown. KCC caregivers represent multiple generations, ranging in age from 25 to 75, with a median age of 55. Over a third of KCC’s caregivers are from rural areas, which Dr. Tobin attributes to the fact that programming takes place on Zoom.
Services
KCC offers a unique variety of services and supports.
Twice-Weekly Online Support Group
- KCC blends a peer-support model with a psychoeducational model. Meetings are offered twice per week to provide flexible time options (morning and evening time) and encourage ongoing participation. Within this model, half of the meetings are dedicated to open discussion facilitated by Dr. Tobin and the KCC team to allow caregivers to share the joys and challenges of caregiving while connecting to peers. The other half of the meetings (about four per month) are virtual trainings led by expert speakers on a variety of topics. Speakers often return annually to reconnect with the group and continue to share their expertise. Topics include legal issues, childhood trauma and mental health, public benefits, and more. The program also offered a 12-session training, The Inherent Strengths of Kinship Families, developed by Dr. Joseph Crumbley.
I can speak my truth and not be judged.
Kinship Caregiver
- As an extension of the support group, KCC now offers group messaging using the app GroupMe, which allows caregivers in the group to connect outside of meeting times. The GroupMe app is moderated by the KCC team. Kinship caregivers use the app daily to share resources, ask for tips, vent, send positive affirmations, and share about daily life. KCC currently has 50 members who participate in the GroupMe app.
It’s very cool to see the group truly become a community.
Dr. Angela Tobin, founder and executive director
Caregiver Directory
- The caregiver directory is a private booklet, available online and in print, that shares contact and “get to know you” information about caregivers in the group. It includes ways caregivers can reach out to each other and notes if people are open to traveling to meet in person. It is updated yearly and shared with the group via email and with new members as they join. It is optional, and caregivers who participate sign a release for the information to be shared. KCC currently has 42 caregivers in the directory. To develop and share a caregiver directory, Dr. Tobin recommends using an online platform, such as One Drive, and requiring a password to access the file.
Online Resource Hub
- The hub has an abundance of resources on topics such as legal information, mental health, schools, parenting, and more. Many of the resources are recorded presentations by community partners, created specifically for kinship caregivers.
- KCC can refer caregivers to OhioKAN for further resources and navigation support.
Bi-Annual In-Person Gatherings
- KCC hosts events twice a year to celebrate kinship families. The program provides food, childcare, t-shirts, and gift cards.
Kinship Family Well-Being Consultant
- KCC’s newest service, piloted in January 2024, provides caregivers with individual sessions with the organization’s kinship family well-being consultant. The consultant position is for someone who has a background in a health field, such as occupational therapy. The consultant supports families in problem solving situations in their everyday lives and suggests strategies for their and their children’s well-being. For example, if a caregiver is having trouble with their child’s bedtime routines, the consultant may educate them and create personalized visual schedules for the child. (Visual schedules are images and visual cues that illustrate the sequence of tasks to complete within a daily routine or for a specific purpose.) The consultant sees roughly four caregivers per month. Each caregiver receives three to five virtual sessions, with the frequency of sessions based on the caregiver’s schedule. Caregivers establish goals targeting self-care, family bonding, and their child’s well-being and evaluate their progress throughout the program. There is currently a waitlist for this service.
Outreach
Dr. Tobin strategically networks with other organizations and agencies to reach caregivers.
KCC uses a caregiver newsletter and both LinkedIn and Facebook pages to provide updates on the support group, meeting reminders, and resources to keep caregivers informed and engaged. KCC recently created a community newsletter to share information and updates with professionals and other community members.
I found people who understand what it’s like…
Kinship caregiver
Dr. Tobin sees outreach not only as a way to get program participants, but as an opportunity to raise awareness about kinship care. Check out Dr. Tobin’s TEDx Talk on Kinship.
Staff
The program’s founder, Dr. Tobin, leads this work and has a doctorate degree in occupational therapy and lived experience as part of a kinship family.
Dr. Tobin hired two support staff members in 2024, in the roles of kinship family well-being consultant and kinship engagement specialist. The kinship family well-being consultant has a background in occupational therapy and got involved in the program through her doctoral capstone project before being hired.
The kinship engagement specialist role is filled by a person with lived experience, whose purpose is to foster a sense of community within the support group. The kinship engagement specialist helps lead meetings, co-facilitates group sessions with the well-being consultant, and coordinates events. Dr. Tobin explained what a benefit it has been to the program to have a lived expert on staff and shared that the kinship engagement specialist took initiative to start a card program to personally reach out to group members for special occasions or emotional support. Dr. Tobin reported that she would not have thought of that, but it has been very well-received by the group.
Key Partners
Partnerships have played a key role in KCC’s success and sustainability. The planning and initial implementation of KCC began in partnership with the Ohio Grandparent Kinship Coalition (OGKC). OGKC is a grassroots nonprofit organization in Ohio, made up of advocates with lived experience and professionals with years of experience in the field. OGKC board members were directly involved in the development of a needs assessment, initial program development, and kinship family and speaker outreach. OGKC staff members have delivered several presentations to the group regarding their organization, community resources, and advocacy.
The Ohio State University, specifically the occupational therapy and social work programs, has also been a strong and unique partner, with program faculty and students offering support by conducting presentations on various topics, sharing the work of KCC in the community, and supporting events. For example, students from both programs volunteer to provide childcare at KCC’s Kinship Family Celebration Gatherings.
OhioKAN – with its parent organization, Kinnect, an Ohio-based nonprofit that works to prevent entry into the child welfare system and reduce the time children spend in it – has also been a key community partner and funding source for KCC, since September 2021. KCC has been partnered with, and funded by, OhioKAN to provide support group meetings and psychoeducational resources to kinship caregivers across the state. This partnership is mutually beneficial, as OhioKAN refers their kinship caregivers to KCC for additional support and has provided several presentations for the KCC support group.
KCC also partners with various nonprofit organizations in Ohio to provide trainings and presentations for caregivers. These include:
- Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE) – presents on legal topics and offers time for caregivers to ask questions
- Eyes Up Appalachia and GraceHaven – present about human trafficking prevention and social media safety
- National Alliance on Mental Illness Ohio – presents information on supporting family members experiencing mental illness
- Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center at the Ohio State University – presents on navigating and partnering with the education system
- Saint Vincent Family Services – presents on trauma-informed caregiving
- Triple P Parenting Program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital – provides positive parenting strategies training
Partners interviewed by the Network noted that Dr. Tobin uses all networks to assist her, makes sure to follow up and build on connections made, and reaches out to others to initiate collaboration.
Caregiver Engagement
Dr. Tobin conducts frequent formal and informal check-ins with the caregivers, asking for their feedback on the support group and inviting them to share recommendations for improvement and future topics of interest. Caregivers are surveyed annually on measures like their satisfaction with the group and the accessibility of the group. Since the group began, kinship caregivers have attended meetings about a variety of topics and have reported high usability and satisfaction with the support group.
The support group “means the world to me.
Kinship Caregiver
KCC is also intentional about hiring staff who reflect the community. In 2024, in addition to hiring the kinship engagement specialist who has lived experience, KCC hired kinship caregivers who have been members of the support group as research partners to provide input on a research project the program is conducting.
Kinship caregivers are engaged in the continual implementation and improvement of KCC. Before making changes to the program structure, KCC staff members run ideas by support group members to try to get a sense of group members’ feelings on a topic (i.e., having a co-leader, using breakout rooms on Zoom, in-person gatherings, etc.).
When speaking on the importance of engaging lived experience in the work, Dr. Tobin stated, “Constantly being open to changing things and adapting – opening that door to include caregivers more – has helped to meet more needs and brought so much joy.”
Funding and Sustainability
The KCC support group was founded through a fellowship from The Ohio State University with a start-up, one-year grant. In the past year, KCC operated through two primary sources of funding: a subcontract with OhioKAN/Kinnect and a grant through the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital that ended in April of 2025.
Dr. Tobin added that once KCC’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax status is official, the program will dive into fundraising and other grants to support long-term sustainability.
KCC is also involved in efforts with other local nonprofits to apply for opioid settlement funds and plans to seek funding in the next grant cycle.
Demonstrating Success and Continuing Quality Improvement
KCC conducts weekly data tracking and administers the annual online caregiver surveys mentioned above, with a full evaluation report prepared annually. Data measures include support group attendance by week and month, email list size, website visits by month, number of resources posted, and number/types of speakers involved. Survey data measures also include support group demographics, acceptability (satisfaction) and usability (accessibility), and perceptions of changes in social support and well-being since attending. Current caregiver needs and areas of interest are also part of the survey to ensure continual client-centered services. The survey uses mixed methods, primarily using Likert-scale questions, with a few qualitative questions.
KCC sends monthly reports to OhioKAN featuring services and resources offered that month. KCC and OhioKAN also have annual meetings to discuss the support group’s evaluation, progress, and plans for the next year.
KCC was awarded the Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training (CCTST) Integrating Special Populations Health Grant presented by the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in April 2024. The award, funded through the National Institutes of Health, provided KCC with $20,000 to conduct a mixed-methods, six-month longitudinal pilot study to investigate the impact of the KCC support program on kinship caregiver and family well-being. KCC is implementing the award in partnership with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital’s CHECK Center, for assistance with research and data analysis, and with the Ohio Family Care Association as a fiscal agent. Kinship caregivers who have been members of KCC were also hired as research partners to provide input throughout the process and assist with qualitative data analysis and dissemination. KCC is in the process of analyzing the results of this research. Dr. Tobin reports having very promising qualitative and quantitative findings, including the finding that increased group attendance is linked to increased emotion-focused coping skills. Caregivers shared that both peer and informational support were crucial components of programming that support their and their family’s well-being.
Additionally, KCC has developed a program manual that outlines the support group model and implementation to support consistency in service delivery.
Challenges and Areas for Program Improvement and Growth
Dr. Tobin noted that staff capacity is her biggest challenge in running KCC.
Partners expressed concerns about accessing ongoing, diversified funding and acknowledged that increasing staff capacity will also be essential for long-term success.
Lessons Learned
Dr. Tobin shared, “It’s about the caregivers, not me.” She noted the importance of running a support group well and making it accessible while keeping quality and integrity. Dr. Tobin shared how grateful she is for her board and the opportunity to build a village to support the work and the caregivers she serves.
Additional Program Resources
- Program Website
- KCC Intake Form
- Program Logic Model
- Resource Hub for Kinship Caregivers
- KCC Trainings for Kinship Caregivers
- 2024 Evaluation Example
- Example of Newsletter for Group Members
- Kinship Caregiver Directory Template
- Join KCC Community Newsletter List
Learn More about the Network’s Exemplary Designation
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For information about the steps and criteria of the exemplary designation process, please click here.
