PLATINUM2022

FOSTER KINSHIP

Help Keep Home in the Family

North Las Vegas, NV   |  http://www.fosterkinship.org

Mission

Foster Kinship strengthens kinship caregivers’ capacity to provide safe, stable and nurturing homes for children. We envision a future where all children raised in kinship care thrive. Foster Kinship provides free support and resources to individuals raising their relative’s children in Nevada, regardless of the caregiver age, relation to the child or custody status of the child.    Foster Kinship works to empower kinship caregivers to make informed decisions in the best interest of the children in their care. We stand in the gap between available government and family social services to support family stability in order to increase the chances of long-term success for the children raised in their homes.

Ruling year info

2012

Executive Director

Alison Alison Caliendo PhD

Main address

3925 W Cheyenne Ave Suite 401

North Las Vegas, NV 89032 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

45-4242425

NTEE code info

Family Services (P40)

Personal Social Services (P50)

Family Counseling, Marriage Counseling (P46)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

When children can't be with their parents, they should be with their family. Foster Kinship was established as a 501(c)(3) in 2011 with the desire to help the 30,000 children living with relative caregivers, also known as kinship care. Foster Kinship was founded with a mission to “strengthen the kinship caregivers' capacity to provide safe, permanent, and nurturing homes for children." Nationally recognized, Foster Kinship is the only non-profit organization in Nevada exclusively serving kinship children and families. Since its inception, Foster Kinship has proudly served nearly 9,000 children and 4,000 kinship families across Nevada. Foster Kinship provides free programs for kinship caregivers: Kinship Navigator Services and Child Welfare Training. By helping to “keep home in the family" for these vulnerable children, Foster Kinship envisions a safe and healthy childhood for ALL children in kinship care.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Enhanced Kinship Navigator Program

The Enhanced Kinship Navigator program provides comprehensive case management and direct childcare services to promote the safety, stability and nurturing capacity of kinship families, all of which are free to these families. The childcare services we offer are critical, as a majority of kinship caregivers are single women living in poverty who are parenting traumatized and vulnerable children. The Enhanced Kinship Navigator Program provides comprehensive case management and specialized support services, and trauma-informed and culturally competent childcare programming to address the highly expressed needs of kinship caregivers as well as promote the quality of life for the entire kinship family.


Population(s) Served
Families
Caregivers
Children and youth

The Child Welfare Training Program includes new caregiver information sessions and kinship licensing classes, car seat safety classes and car seat education classes for families involved with Clark County Department of Family Services. All trainings are designed to increase the safety, stability, and nurturing capacity of kinship families.

Population(s) Served
Caregivers

Where we work

Awards

Champion for Change Award (Ali Caliendo) 2019

North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC)

Family Advocate Champion (Ali Caliendo) 2021

Voice for Adoption

Videos

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of children receiving assistance with important legal documents

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Caregivers, Foster and adoptive children, Grandparents, Orphans, Families of origin

Related Program

Enhanced Kinship Navigator Program

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Children whose caregivers secured temporary or legal guardianship with the assistance of the kinship navigator program.

Number of referrals to resources offered

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Caregivers

Related Program

Enhanced Kinship Navigator Program

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Referrals to community resources as part of the kinship caregiver's caseplan.

Number of children who have access to financial support

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Caregivers, Foster and adoptive children, Orphans

Related Program

Enhanced Kinship Navigator Program

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Children whose caregivers are able to access child-only TANF with the help of the kinship navigator program.

Number of clients participating in support groups

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Caregivers

Related Program

Enhanced Kinship Navigator Program

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Kinship caregivers who participate in a support group or access additional peer or emotional support via our Kinship Navigator Program.

Number of eligible clients who report having access to an adequate array of services and supports

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Caregivers

Related Program

Enhanced Kinship Navigator Program

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

These are percentages.

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

We believe when children can't be with their parents, they should be with their family.

VISION

A vibrant future for all children in kinship care.

MISSION

Foster Kinship strengthens kinship caregivers' capacity to provide safe, permanent, and nurturing homes for children.

GOALS

Our first goal is to build a foundation of safety for children by meeting immediate needs of the kinship family.

Our second goal is to provide the most permanent home for children by stabilizing the kinship family.

Our final goal is to meet the well-being needs of children by increasing caregivers' capacity.

OBJECTIVES

Foster Kinship's programs are designed to meet goals through the following objectives:

Legal Status: Families are given tools to increase the stability of the placement through legal means such as guardianship.

Financial Resources: Families are assisted with applications for financial support and may be eligible for emergency resources from Foster Kinship.

Community Connection: Families are connected with resources, including transportation, to increase knowledge of and access to supportive programs.

Emotional Support: Families have access to free support groups, caregiver education classes, and family events with other kinship families.

Foster Kinship's Navigator Program is the only program of it's kind in Nevada. Our Navigator Program is modeled on well-established Kinship Navigator programs in other states, such as Washington, Arizona, and New York, that have been evaluated and shown to:
Connect families with financial resources, such as the child-only TANF grant; Provide caregivers with information and referrals relevant to their specific caregiving situation; Keep children out of the public child welfare system (foster care); Provide emotional support for caregivers.

On average, after receiving services from Foster Kinship, families experience a positive change from baseline in 22 out of 30 possible categories on the FRS, with significant positive change in the following categories: Someone to talk to, Clothes for your family, Money to buy necessities, Medical care for your family, Dental Care for your family, Public assistance, Time for family to be together.

In addition to the outcome data from the baseline and follow-up interviews, family advocates note when a kinship family has achieved a key outcome, such as custody, securing financial resources, or other indicators of positive change related to safe, permanent, or nurturing homes. Data is collected at intake, during each follow-up, and at case closure.

THREE YEAR HISTORY

Safe home outcomes to date: Family advocates answered 2,019 helpline calls, provided 519 community referrals, and distributed emergency resources to 766 families. 98% of families have achieved their community connection goals.

Permanent home outcomes to date: 789 families attended kinship licensing class; 357 families received help with guardianship and financial applications. 83% of families have achieved their permanency goal, and 88% have achieved their financial stability goal.

Nurturing home outcomes to date: Family advocates made 1,733 emotional support calls, 365 families participated in support groups, 677 families participated in family events, and 99% of families achieved their emotional support goal.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    Foster Kinship serves kinship families- those parenting a relative or family friend's child(ren) when the parents are no longer able or willing to do so.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • What significant change resulted from feedback?

    For several years we have heard kinship caregivers say they need a break but were unable to afford childcare or find a safe place to temporarily bring their children. As many children in kinship care have additional needs due to the trauma they have experienced, it was difficult to find compassionate or educated childcare centers. We were able to build this feedback into a grant request and in 2020 opened our on-site respite center for kinship caregivers. Our experienced child care team provides a trauma-informed curriculum for children while caregivers are able to leave and go to the doctor, run errands, or just take a few hours to themselves.

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback

Financials

FOSTER KINSHIP
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

FOSTER KINSHIP

Board of directors
as of 06/11/2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Dr. Michele Howser

CSN

Term: 2016 - 2022

Michelle McGuire

Creative Behavioral Connections

Katherine Unthank

University of Phoenix

Nancy Myster

Alexander Dawson School

Jordan Castro

PWC

Kechia English

Child Welfare/Kinship

Bob Ruble

Kinship Caregiver

Daniel Maier

THE Brokerage/ Kinship Caregiver

Patricia Farley

SWS Nevada/Kinship

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 6/11/2022
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Gay, lesbian, bisexual, or other sexual orientations in the LGBTQIA+ community
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

Equity strategies

Last updated: 11/11/2021

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.