A8 - Implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act: Reconsidering the Role of Kinship Caregivers

The recent passage of the Family First Prevention Services Act has placed renewed emphasis on the child welfare mandate to offer services and to support birth parents in their efforts to address the issues that led to separation and reunify with their children. This workshop focuses on the role that kinship caregivers are uniquely qualified to fulfill in promoting reunification due to family attachment and knowledge of the child welfare system. Strategies for navigating complex and difficult intra-family relationships, assuring the safety of children,  supporting healing and growth of parents, and caregiver self-care, as well as implications for child welfare practice will be addressed.

Presenters: Charlene Ingram, CWLA, Erial, NJ; and Donna Petras, CWLA, Lincolnshire, IL