We’ve launched the new website for the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network, www.GKSNetwork.org! Check it out to find a variety of resources. Our resource library will keep growing, so please visit often to discover more!
About the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network: A National Technical Assistance Center
Generations United created the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network: A National Technical Assistance Center,* funded through a five-year cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living (ACL).
Generations United is coordinating the work of five
partners, the National Caucus and Center on Black Aging, the National Indian Child Welfare Association, USAging, ZERO TO THREE, and Child Trends. A diverse steering committee of the nation’s leading experts on kinship and grandfamilies, including caregivers from the GRAND Voices Network, also support the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network:
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- Alexandra Ashbrook, JD, Food Research and Action Center (FRAC)
- Terry Cross, DHL, National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA)
- Joseph Crumbley, PhD
- Angelique Day, PhD, MSW, University of Washington
- GRAND Voice Gail Engel
- Jatrice Martel Gaiter, JD, Volunteers of America (VOA)
- Marina Nitze, New America Foundation Fellow
- Melinda Perez-Porter, JD, Relatives as Parents Program (RAPP)
- Heidi Redlich Epstein, JD, MSW and Emily Peeler, JD, MSW, American Bar Association (ABA) Center on Children and the Law
- GRAND Voice Sarah Smalls
- Tyreasa Washington, PhD, LCSW, Child Trends
- Nancy Young, PhD, Children and Family Futures
- Lisa Zetley, MD, American Academy of Pediatrics
Together, through the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network, Generations United is increasing the capacity and effectiveness of states, territories, tribes/tribal organizations, nonprofits, and other community-based organizations to serve and support grandfamilies and kinship families. We provide technical assistance that enables peer learning, integrates subject-matter expertise into solutions, and develops and documents replicable models of collaboratively working across jurisdictions to break down silos and holistically support grandfamilies and kinship families.
Ana Beltran, who has been with Generations United for 22 years and most recently served as the co-director for our National Center on Grandfamilies, is the director of the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network.
“For more than 20 years, Generations United has been working diligently to elevate the important role relatives play in raising children when parents are unable to do so. We believe the voices of the caregivers and young people in grandfamilies are key to informing and developing the right supports to help them do what families do best-raise children with love and a connection to their roots. We are honored to now have the opportunity to create and lead the country’s first National Technical Assistance Center on Grandfamilies and Kinship Families working side by side with an amazing group of partners, caregivers, and other experts to help systems around the country make a lastly difference in the lives of the families.” – Donna M. Butts, Executive Director, Generations United
If you have any questions on programs, policies, or supports for grandfamilies/kinship families, please email us at info@GKSNetwork.org.
Please see the following links for more information about the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network.
- ACL’s 9/29 press release about the funding award for more information about the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network’s specific deliverables.
- Letter from Director Ana Beltran to Generations United’s friends and partners.
- Two-pager describing the Network.
* The Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network is supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $9,950,000 with 95 percentage funded by ACL/HHS and $523,684 and 5 percentage funded by non-government sources. The contents are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACL/HHS, or the U.S. Government.
