Foster Kinship's direct services for children are part of our enhanced Kinship Navigator Program model and also supplement our Child Welfare Training and Kinship Training Institute.
People are innately relational, and our childhoods largely define how we build and maintain relationships, with ourselves and with others.
Unfortunately, we know children in kinship care have experienced parental separation, inflicting a deep wound in their most foundational attachment and bond—that with their parents. This parental separation is often triggered by abuse and neglect, creating a cascade of traumatic experiences. This type of relational wound, if left unaddressed, can paint the future relationships that kinship children will have.
Although Foster Kinship recognizes the pain caused by parental separation, we also recognize kinship children’s capacity for healing generational trauma in the relationship with their caregiver, and actively support this healing through our childcare programming.
Foster Kinship's uniquely designed respite care and youth support services promote the social-emotional development of vulnerable children who have experienced trauma, abuse, and neglect while providing grandparent caregivers with a free and safe opportunity to practice self-care regularly.
By intervening for children and youth at critical stages of development, we support their health and wellness, enabling them to thrive. By providing time for the caregiver's self-care, we stabilize the kinship family, preventing disruption of the child into foster care.
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Kinship caregivers frequently abandon their physical and mental health needs when they become primary caregivers for abused and neglected children. Without access to proper services and caring for themselves, the needs of the children can overwhelm a kinship caregiver, causing further disruption to the child's stability and degradation in the quality of life for caregivers. That is why Foster Kinship began offering respite care for kinship families using Foster Kinship's evidence-based model for family stability in 2020.
Kinship families in Clark County, NV, are eligible for free respite care each month with our trained childcare team. Scheduling in advance is required. These respite hours are in addition to any other childcare programming utilized by the family. If you have any questions, please email childcare@fosterkinship.org or call our office 702-546-9988.
If you have concerns about the behavior of the child in your home, we offer consultations with our behavioral specialist who can assist you in identifying resources in the community based on your needs.
Foster Kinship is also happy to provide community support and navigational resources for Autism services. This would include support toward locating clinic interventions, assessments and diagnostics, listings of ABA providers and connecting families with programs for Autism case management, along with information on local family support groups. If you are in need of assistance, please call 702-546-9988 to schedule a consultation.
Our Nurture Group focuses on the resiliencies of kinship children by teaching them how to regulate their emotions, process the impacts of trauma, and learn how to form thriving relationships.
Foster Kinship’s Nurture Group is a 2-hour event, hosted twice a month, for up to 6 children between the ages of 5 to 10 years old. The curriculum is grounded in Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI)–an evidence-based practice specifically focused on empowering and connecting children who have experienced trauma. The curriculum also incorporates Jude Cassidy’s (2001) Four Necessary Skills for Healthy Relationships. Our trauma-informed childcare specialists teach these skills in a fun and safe environment by using the book, "Riley the Brave," which explains how trauma impacts the brain and how to create relationships with safe adults. Notably, this book teaches neuroscience in an accessible manner and provides concrete skills for caregivers to implement.
We also offer respite opportunities for caregivers with older youth through our Youth Support Groups. We discuss coping mechanisms, critical thinking skills, problem-solving through language, and communication through youth social groups and structured activities.
Young adult professionals who have spent time in kinship and foster care as children facilitate the groups for youth. This peer mentorship enables trust between the group and inspires youth in difficult places to see what is possible for their lives.
