Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children's Home Network
About This Program
Target Population: Informal and formal kinship families, relatives, and nonrelatives raising children who are not being raised by parents
For children/adolescents ages: 0 – 17
For parents/caregivers of children ages: 0 – 17
Program Overview
The Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children’s Home Network provides supportive services to any relative or nonrelative raising a child on a full-time basis when a parent is unable or unwilling to provide care. Nonrelative refers to someone unrelated who has a significant or family-like relationship to the child. This program provides services to families regardless of their status with the child welfare system, therefore serving informal and formal families. CHN-KN provides a centralized intake line, comprehensive assessments, family conferencing, and navigation services that include securing concrete needs, enrollment in public assistance, linkage to key community resources, development of informal and formal supports, service and crisis planning, support groups, and follow-up contacts at 3-month intervals postcompletion of the program.
Program Goals
The goals of Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children’s Home Network are:
- Improve ability to safely care for child in their care.
- Improve ability to keep child in their care and give the child a stable environment.
- Improve ability to keep child in their care healthy in all regards.
- Improve their well-being as a caregiver.
- Improve resilience, social connections, concrete supports, knowledge of child development, and parenting skills as a caregiver.
- Learn how to apply and enroll in benefits available to them as a caregiver.
- Reduce the unmet needs of their family.
Logic Model
View the Logic Model for Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children's Home Network.
Essential Components
The essential components of Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children’s Home Network include:
- Kinship families:
- A grandparent caregiver
- Other relative caregiver
- Nonrelative caregiver
- A central intake line and/or referral process by community-based agencies
- Kinship Navigator:
- Provides direct services
- Qualifications include one or both of the following:
- Peer grandparent or other relative who has been formally trained and can share their lived experiences
- Human service degreed professional hired and trained by the community organization to provide services
- A wide variety of supportive, easy-to-access services available to all families:
- Individual and/or group services
- Various delivery settings:
- Home
- Community-based agency
- Location of the caregiver’s choice
- Services include:
- Comprehensive assessment
- Family conference
- Kinship navigation
- Advocacy
- Family support plan
- Educational workshops
- Support groups for youth and adults
- Health and wellness coaching
- Linkage with:
- Tutoring
- Counseling
- Behavioral Analysis
- Mentoring
- Respite
- Childcare
- Legal Assistance
- Voice and choice of caregiver and child are essential to planning goals and evaluating progress
- Required to include kinship caregivers and youth in every step of the program implementation within organization
- Multisector, multisystem Community Collaborative of social service agencies
- Educates and shares resources for kinship families
- Meets at least once per month to connect, problem-solve and update needs and resources designed to support kinship families
- Evaluation of program is required to promote and monitor outcomes:
- Valid and reliable measures
- Culturally tailored approaches to data collection and evaluation methodologies that are:
- Pragmatic
- Trauma-centered
- Research-informed
- Aggregated data on demographics related to equity and inclusion to assess disproportionality
- Results in robust data story to share with stakeholders regarding their kinship families’ progress towards outcomes
Program Delivery
Child/Adolescent Services
Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children's Home Network directly provides services to children/adolescents and addresses the following:
- Hyperactivity, delinquency, school failure, and history of abuse, depressive symptoms, aggression, anxiety, defiance, stealing, social aggression, general anti-social behavior and those children at-risk of child welfare involvement
Parent/Caregiver Services
Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children's Home Network directly provides services to parents/caregivers and addresses the following:
- Lack of parenting skills, conflict issues with children, lack of caregiver self-care, health and wellness behaviors, chronic health conditions and disabled, lack of knowledge of and access to community resources, lack of emotional support, low-income, food insecure, and at-risk of homelessness
Services Involve Family/Support Structures:
This program involves the family or other support systems in the individual's treatment: CHN-KN provides advocacy and education on navigating service systems. Sometimes this includes providing information to the systems of care themselves so they can better meet the needs of caregivers and adapt their practice. CHN-KN facilitates family conferences and leads community collaborative meetings to cultivate resources and share thought partnership on kinship issues in the community. The voice of the family is highly valued, and it is essential that the family drives their family conference, service plan, and desired outcomes. Family members participate in support groups and provide input that helps to inform solutions to unmet needs, shifts that need to happen in the system of care, and identify other barriers that need to be addressed.
Recommended Intensity:
Weekly, 1-hour contact at a minimum
Recommended Duration:
Average length of duration is 3-6 months dependent on identified needs, complexity of issues and progress made towards goals
Delivery Settings
This program is typically conducted in a(n):
- Adoptive Home
- Birth Family Home
- Community Daily Living Setting
- Foster / Kinship Care
- Community-based Agency / Organization / Provider
- Justice Setting (Juvenile Detention, Jail, Prison, Courtroom, etc.)
- Other
- Public Child Welfare Agency (Dept. of Social Services, etc.)
- School Setting (Including: Day Care, Day Treatment Programs, etc.)
- Virtual (Online, Telephone, Video, Zoom, etc.)
Homework
This program does not include a homework component.
Resources Needed to Run Program
The typical resources for implementing the program are:
- An identified service provider or state/county jurisdiction
- Office space that accommodates privacy, and secure records area
- Computer and email
- Data or tracking system
- Cell phones
Manuals and Training
Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications
Program Assistant: High School diploma or GED or equivalent. Three years of data entry or administrative experience in a professional office setting. Associate degree in Business Administration preferred.
Support Group Assistant: High School diploma or GED or equivalent. Experience as a relative caregiver and successfully completed Kinship Program.
Tutor Coordinator (optional): Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or college in human services or related field. Minimum of 6 months of tutor experience K-12 is preferred.
Kinship Navigator: Bachelor’s degree for an accredited university or college in Human Services or related field. One year of experience working with children and families.
Intake Coordinator: High School graduate or equivalent from an accredited institution with 3 or more years of administrative support experience in a Human Service Field.
Outreach Coordinator: High School graduate or equivalent from an accredited institution with 2 years of experience in social services environment or related field.
Program Supervisor: Master’s degree in social work or other related field with at least 5 years of experience in the mental health field.
Program Manager: Master’s degree in social work or human services related field from an accredited university plus 5 years of experience working with children and families; 2 years of which should be in a supervisory or leadership role.
Manual Information
There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.
Program Manual(s)
Manual information:
- Children’s Home Network. (2021). Children’s Home Network- Kinship Navigator Program manual. Author.
Inquiries about purchasing the model which includes the manual can be submitted to https://mykinship.org or contact the training contact below.
Training Information
There is training available for this program.
Training Contact:
- Larry Cooper, Chief of Prevention and Intervention Services
mykinship.org
lcooper@childrenshomenetwork.org
phone: (813) 901-3423 or (813) 860-9154
Training Type/Location:
A discussion about the model and training is initiated by contacting the training contact above. It can be delivered onsite at the trainee’s organization, or onsite at the Children’s Home Network or another site that best meets the needs of the trainee organization. Training can be tailored to meet the individual organizational needs which includes in person or virtual options.
Number of days/hours:
Training is culturally tailored to meet the capacity of the trainee’s organization. A readiness assessment is used to determine the organization’s capacity to implement the model.
The Children’s Home Network provides ongoing implementation support and partnership, including a 3-day in-person Implementation Training that focuses intensely on what is expected to deliver CHN-KN services. Technical assistance and supportive coaching (provided both in-person and remotely), staff training, and periodic site visits to measure each site’s ability to implement the model with fidelity are also components of the formal implementation support offered to sites. CHN-KN provides organizations with technical assistance, training, coaching, and mentoring on fidelity monitoring, leadership coaching, program implementation, and branding.
Implementation Information
Pre-Implementation Materials
There are pre-implementation materials to measure organizational or provider readiness for Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children's Home Network as listed below:
CHN-KN uses an organizational readiness assessment with providers. This pre-implementation assessment includes reviewing organizational structure/management style, organizational climate, resource availability, staff capacity (e.g., knowledge, attitudes, skills, existing workload), and external relationships.
The first step in planning for the implementation of the Kinship Navigator includes an assessment, to determine the organization’s capacity to implement CHN-KN. This is critical preparation work prior to program implementation as it can highlight organizational needs and provide opportunities to build in training and technical assistance on the front end, prior to full program implementation. The Children’s Home Network and Partner AAJ Research and Evaluation have several toolkits to assist organizations with current capacity of the organization to increase the likelihood of success.
Formal Support for Implementation
There is formal support available for implementation of Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children's Home Network as listed below:
The CHN-KN provides ongoing implementation support and partnership, including a 3-day in-person Implementation Training that focuses intensely on what is expected to deliver CHN-KN services. Technical assistance and supportive coaching (provided both in-person and remotely), staff training, and periodic site visits to measure each site’s ability to implement the model with fidelity are also components of the formal implementation support offered to sites. CHN-KN provides organizations with technical assistance, training, coaching, and mentoring on fidelity monitoring, leadership coaching, program implementation, and branding.
Fidelity Measures
There are fidelity measures for Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children's Home Network as listed below:
Fidelity is assessed by using a self-report checklist, weekly supervisor review, practice profiles, and trained observations.
Components of fidelity that are assessed include: adherence, exposure, quality of delivery, participant responsiveness, and program differentiation.
The fidelity assessment can be found in the program manual. See information in the section above.
Implementation Guides or Manuals
There are implementation guides or manuals for Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children's Home Network as listed below:
The CHN-KN Implementation Guide and Program Manual are designed to provide a detailed description of the processes and procedures to inform the implementation of CHN-KN. These publications provide considerations on the organizational-level factors that are needed to support the implementation of the program. The manuals are a component of the comprehensive training program and cannot be purchased separately.
Inquiries can made to https://mykinship.org
Implementation Cost
There have been studies of the costs of implementing Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children's Home Network which are listed below:
Littlewood, K. (2015). Kinship Services Network Program: Five-year evaluation of family support and case management for informal kinship families. Children and Youth Services Review, 52, 184–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.10.008
Littlewood, K., & Cooper, L. (2016). CHI CW/TANF Kinship Interdisciplinary Navigation Technologically - Advanced Model (KIN- Tech): Final Evaluation Report. Final Evaluation Report Period: 9-30-2012 to 6-30-2016 Final Report. Available through https://www.childwelfare.gov/library/
Research on How to Implement the Program
Research has not been conducted on how to implement Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children's Home Network.
Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research
Child Welfare Outcomes: Safety, Permanency and Child/Family Well-Being
Littlewood, K., Cooper, L., & Pandey, A. (2020). Safety and placement stability for the Children’s Home Network Kinship Navigator Program. Child Abuse & Neglect, 106, Article 104506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104506
Type of Study:
Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants:
240
Population:
- Age — Caregivers: 30–80 years; Children: Not specified
- Race/Ethnicity — Caregivers: 52.1% African American, 43.3% White, and 4.6% Other; Children: 42.9% African American/Black, 37.9% Caucasian, 15% Two or more races, and 4.1% Other
- Gender — Caregivers: 52.3% Male and 47.7% Female; Children: Not specified
- Status — Participants were selected kinship caregivers who were enrolled in CHN-KN, one of the kinship navigator federal demonstration project from the 2012 Fostering Connections grantees.
Location/Institution: A southern county in the U.S.
Summary:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to examine the 12-, 24-, and 36-month follow-up on child safety (substantiated abuse record) and placement stability (disruption in placement) outcomes from state administered secondary data for children whose caregivers participated in Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children’s Home Network. Caregivers were randomly assigned to four groups: 1) Standard Kinship Navigator Program (CHN-KN); 2) Kinship Navigator Program with Innovations (Kin-Tech); 3) Kinship Navigator Program with Peer-to-Peer Only; and 4) Usual Child Welfare Services for kin. From each of these groups, a random sample of 60 was selected to use for this study and match with administrative data at 12, 24, and 36 months after program completion. Measures utilized include the administrative child welfare data from the State Administered Family Safety Database regarding child safety and placement stability outcomes. Results indicate that children living with caregivers who received any Kinship Navigator program were the least likely to be involved in a substantiation of child abuse or neglect and most likely to remain in the home of a relative at 12-, 24-, and 36-month follow up. Limitations include no access to personal identifiable information on the children returning to care because they were active cases and open court record; cannot rule out the possibility that the differences observed were simply related to longer lengths of stay, rather than due to the intervention received; and even though random assignment was used, there is still concern that this study was unable to examine potential differences in groups at baseline—including placement histories, number of siblings placed together, special needs of the children placed— all of which could have a significant impact on outcomes of interest.
Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 12, 24, and 36 months.
Littlewood, K., Cooper, L., Yelick, A., & Pandey, A. (2021). The Children’s Home Network Kinship Navigator Program improves family protective factors. Children and Youth Services Review, 126, 106046. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106046
Type of Study:
Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants:
1551
Population:
- Age — 30–80 years
- Race/Ethnicity — 674 White, 592 African American; 122 Hispanic/Latino, 120 Refused/missing, 29 Two or more races, 5 Asian, 4 Hawaiian/PI, 4 Native American, and 1 Don’t know
- Gender — Not specified
- Status — Participants were selected kinship caregivers who were enrolled in CHN-KN, one of the kinship navigator federal demonstration project from the 2012 Fostering Connections grantees.
Location/Institution: Two large counties in a Southeastern state
Summary:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to test whether the Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children’s Home Network improved protective factors for kinship caregivers. More specifically, this study was interested in which types of CHN Kinship Navigator Program Groups improved the following protective factors: family functioning/ resiliency, social emotional support, concrete support, child development and knowledge, and nurturing and attachment using the Protective Factors Survey with kinship caregivers. Caregivers were randomly assigned to four groups: 1) Standard Kinship Navigator Program (CHN-KN) ); 2) Kinship Navigator Program with Innovations; 3) Kinship Navigator Program with Peer to Peer Only; and 4) Usual Child Welfare Services for kin at 12-, 24- and 36-month follow-up. Measures utilized include the administrative child welfare data from the State Administered Family Safety Database regarding child safety and placement stability outcomes and the Protective Factors Survey (PFS). Results of the repeated measures ANOVA for each subscale showed statistically significant within and between group differences for kinship navigator program models on Family Functioning, Concrete Supports, Child Development, and Nurturing and Attachment. Conversely, usual care showed a decline in protective factors consistently across subscales. Limitations include although many contrasts were statistically significant, the differences between groups were small and possibly of little practical significance and the reliance on kinship caregivers’ self-report data.
Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 12, 24, and 36 months.
The following studies were not included in rating Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children's Home Network on the Scientific Rating Scale...
Strozier, A. (2012). The effectiveness of support groups in increasing social support for kinship caregivers. Children and Youth Services Review, 34(5), 876–881. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.01.007
The purpose of the study was to examine how social support changed for kinship caregivers enrolled in Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children’s Home Network who participated in support groups versus kinship caregivers who did not attend the support groups Measures utilized include the Dunst Family Support Scale and administrative data from State Administered Family Safety Database regarding child safety and placement stability outcomes. Results indicate that caregivers who attended support groups experienced a significantly greater increase in social support than those caregivers who did not attend the support groups. An additional finding was that kinship caregivers attending the support groups were more likely to increase formal social supports from sources such as parent groups, social groups/clubs, church members, family physician, early childhood programs, school or day care, professional helpers and agencies compared to an increase in informal support such as spouse's parents, relatives, spouse's relatives, spouse, friends, spouse’ friends, and children. Limitations include small sample size and that the measure was originally designed for use with African American parents. Note: This study cannot be used for the program rating as all participants were enrolled in CHN-KN and only the results of their voluntary participation or nonparticipation in the support group component were compared in the study.
Pandey A, Littlewood K, Cooper, L., McCrae, J., Rosenthal, M., Day, A., & Hernandez, L. (2017). Connecting older grandmothers raising grandchildren with community resources improves family resiliency, social support, and caregiver self-efficacy. Journal of Women & Aging,6(3), 269–283. https://doi.org/10.1080/08952841.2018.1444940
The purpose of the present study is to examine whether grandmother caregivers 55+ years of age improve family resilience, social support, and caregiver self-efficacy, and which interventions improved outcomes for grandmothers. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups: Usual Care (traditional child welfare services), Standard Care [Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children’s Home Network] which provided family support and case management, Peer-to-Peer Care Only, and Full Kin Tech Care (peer navigators with computer access and interdisciplinary team); the sample of grandmothers 55+ years of age were then examined separately. Measures utilized include the Family Support Scale (FSS), the Family Resource Scale (FRS), and administrative data from the Florida Department of Children and Families Child Safety Office was used to determine whether children of all participants remained in the care of a relative twelve months after program completion. Cost estimates were used to compare the costs for several placement options for children. Results indicate significant differences within and between the four groups Family Functioning, Social Supports, Concrete Supports, Child Development, and Nurturing and Attachment, with the exception of Usual Care, which showed a decline in protective factors consistently across subscales. Limitations include the reliance on kinship caregivers’ self-report data and generalizability due to population. Note: This study cannot be used for the scientifically rating for Kinship Navigator (CHN-KN) Children’s Home Network as the randomization was broken when only grandmothers ages 55+ were selected from the larger sample.
Additional References
Littlewood, K. (2015). Kinship Services Network Program: Five-year evaluation of family support and case management for informal kinship families, Children and Youth Services Review, 52, 184-191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.10.008
Littlewood, K., Cooper, L., Carter, S., Rosenthal, M., Ward, C., Navarro, J., Demarco, S., & Pandey, A. (2022). Children’s Home Network Kinship Navigator Program Kin as Teachers 2.0: Early childhood intervention for kin. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/15350770.2022.2090479
Pandey, A., Littlewood, K., Cooper, L., McCrae, J., Rosenthal, M., Day, A. G., & Hernandez, L. (2018). Connecting older grandmothers raising grandchildren with community resources improves family resiliency, social support, and caregiver self-efficacy. Journal of Women & Aging, 31(3), 269–283. https://doi.org/10.1080/08952841.2018.1444940
Contact Information
- Larry Cooper, MSW, LCSW
- Title: Model Developer & Chief of Prevention and Intervention Services
- Agency/Affiliation: Children’s Home Network
- Website: www.childrenshomenetwork.org/kinship
- Email: lcooper@childrenshomenetwork.org
- Phone: (813) 901-3423 or (813) 860-9154
Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed by CEBC: October 2021
Date Program Content Last Reviewed by Program Staff: September 2022
Date Program Originally Loaded onto CEBC: September 2022
