Thursday, November 20, 2025
1-2:15 p.m. Eastern time
Webinar on Zoom
Join us for a free webinar to explore the importance of prioritizing kinship care and learn strategies and tools for supporting kinship providers.
Learning objectives
- The benefits of prioritizing kinship care and first placement with relatives and/or fictive kin
- Barriers relatives and fictive kin providers experience in the processes for first placement consideration, foster care/kinship licensing, fostering and adopting
- The impact of caregiver trauma and burnout on placement stability for relatives and fictive kin providers
- Strategies and tools for supporting kinship providers
- Hear from Ali Caliendo of Foster Kinship about her organization’s evidence-based Kinship Navigator Model and lessons learned in training, licensing, and supporting kinship providers
- Hear from Dawn Barton of South Carolina Department of Social Services about the agency’s work with this model and its efforts to prioritize kin-first placements
Presenters
Katie Amelse
National Child Welfare Advisor
National Center for Diligent Recruitment
Guest Speakers
Ali Caliendo
Kinship Caregiver
Founder and Executive Director
Foster Kinship
Dawn Barton
Director of Permanency
South Carolina Department of Social Services
Audience
Open to all audiences. This webinar will be especially helpful for child welfare professionals involved in recruitment, support, and retention of adoptive, foster and kinship families, as well as administrators who shape child welfare policies, procedures, and implementation.