Meeting Kinship Needs through a Resource Portal

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2016

National research shows that kinship families frequently do not receive services and resources for which they are eligible because they do not know about the resources or do not know how to access these supports. Kinship focus groups in San Bernardino County, however, indicate that they would use an online, self-service resource portal if one was available. Consequently, San Bernardino County Children and Family Services (CFS) entered into a collaborative with other agencies in 2014, to create a one-stop, comprehensive, online and phone accessible, resource portal comprised of available government, community and business resources for foster and kinship families and transition-age (16-21) youth in the county. Other agencies in the partnership are iFoster, the United Way of California and 211 California. The portal includes information on programs, services and resources administered by other county human services departments, especially Transitional Assistance and Behavioral Health as well as the Housing Authority. The goal of the program is to enhance the effectiveness of the partnership between CFS and the other agencies in delivering and coordinating services for formal and informal kinship families. This in turn leads to greater stability of the placement and a decrease in the needs of the caregivers.