Philadelphia Society for Services to Children


























The Kinship Institute engages an active Advisory Committee, which offers expertise and oversight for activities. Current members: Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown , Philadelphia City Councilwoman; represented by Joseph Meade Eileen Brown , Executive Director, Grands as Parents (GAPS); also represented by Jean Hackney Karen Buck, Esq. , Executive Director, SeniorLAW Center Frank Cervone, Esq. , Executive Director, Support Center for Child Advocates Rev. Eileen Christian, Relative Caregiver Representative Sandra Cross , Executive Director, Grand Central, Inc. Dr. Arthur Evans , Director of the Philadelphia Office of Behavioral Health and the Philadelphia Department of Human Services; represented by Andy Devos and Natalie Zemaitis from the Office of Behavioral Health and Pam Mayo and Cheryl Priest from the Department of Human Services David Fair , V.P. for Community Impact, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania Charlene Ingram , Kinship Care Director, Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) Heshimu Jaramogi , Publisher, The Neighborhood Leader and The Frankford News Joan Klein , Director, Family Caregiver Support Program, PCA Maureen McKoy-Farmar, Associate State Director, AARP Pennsylvania Carmen Paris, Deputy Commissioner, Philadelphia Department of Public Health Carolyn Schneider, G randparents Raising Grandchildren Program Coordinator, Supportive Older Women's Network (SOWN). Sharif Street, Esq., Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen LLP Senator LeAnna Washington , Pennsylvania Sate Senator; represented by Pamela Smith Senator Anthony H. Williams , Pennsylvania State Senator Representative Rosita C. Youngblood , Pennsylvania State Representative

The Kinship Institute

What's New?

The Connections Newsletter

read here

The Kinship Institute at PSSC promotes policies and programs that benefit relative caregiver families. The Kinship Institute

• There is a trend in the United States in which extended family members - often grandmothers - raise children. This phenomenon is referred to as "kinship care." These families are “kinship families” or “grandfamilies.”

• Currently, there are over 6 million American children living in homes headed by

grandparents or other caregivers; 2.5 million are there without their biological parents.

• Pennsylvania ranks 7th in the number of children residing in grandparent-headed households, with over 200,000 children in this arrangement.

• Over 60,000 children in Philadelphia live in a household headed by a relative.

While there are benefits to kinship care, there are also tremendous challenges:

• Emotionally, children in kinship care deal with feelings of abandonment and confusion regarding parental loyalty.

• Caregivers wrestle with anger towards the biological parent and resentment regarding their caregiving role, while frequently addressing pressing housing and financial needs.

• Caregivers are more likely to be in poor physical health, and to suffer from depression.

• The majority of kinship caregivers do not have legal custody of the children, creating difficulties in accessing benefits and enrolling in school.

• Children in kinship care are more likely to be impoverished, and less likely to have medical coverage.

Institute Activities Include:

• On the fourth Tuesday of each month (except August), the Institute hosts networking and informational meetings for service providers on topics that will help improve services to relative caregiver families. These meetings are free, and the topic changes each month.

• The Institute publishes a quarterly newsletter, Connections , for relative caregivers and service providers.

• “Mini-Conferences,” which provide information and resources for relative caregivers, are hosted in different Philadelphia neighborhoods.

• Individually trainings and programmatic assistance are be developed to meet the specific needs of local nonprofits.

• A series of “Workplace Workshops for Relative Caregivers” has been developed, and Institute staff are available to host workshops for interested corporate hosts.

• The Institute produced a free resource guide for relative caregivers and service providers; additionally copies are still available.

• Assistance and information is offered to local and regional elected officials and policy makers in assessing and developing policies, legislation, and programs that impact relative caregiver families.

Download a free copy of The Kinship Care Resource Guide and The Report on the Current Status of Kinship Care Services in Philadelphia . For more information contact Karen Fisk, Director of the Kinship Institute at 215-875-4977.

Free ¨ Breakfast ¨ Information ¨ Networking

A Series of Monthly Networking and Informational Meetings Hosted by The Kinship Institute at PSSC

For Service Providers Serving Kinship Caregivers

(Which are all service providers!)

Meetings hosted on the 4 th Tuesday of each month (except August)

From 9am - 11am

at PSSC's office at 415 South 15 th Street in Philadelphia .

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