A Tradition of Caring is a comprehensive nine-session curriculum, providing kinship caregivers with 27 hours of valuable information and support related to kinship care. Sessions are designed to facilitate interaction and the sharing of experiences and support among participants. Meetings utilize a task-based, strengths-oriented approach to learning. During the course of this program, each participant develops a comprehensive individualized action plan for accessing needed resources and meeting identified family needs.
Modules focus on key concerns, including:
- General kinship care issues
- Supporting healthy child growth and development
- Accessing needed resources
- Addressing changes in family dynamics
- Promoting children's needs for lifelong connections
- Understanding and navigating the formal child welfare system.
The program has been created for use by a broad spectrum of agencies: elder service programs; community social service and mental health agencies; kinship care resource centers; faith-affiliated, community-based, or other types of support groups; and public and private child welfare organizations. Rather than functioning primarily as a trainer, the person managing the group assumes the role of facilitator. Sessions are designed to allow the facilitator flexibility to respond to the needs, dynamics, and makeup of each group.