It is always better for children and youth to remain with their birth families if it is safe to do so. When foster care is necessary, the goal is to provide a temporary safe, stable and nurturing environment for children and adolescents while actively seeking and supporting reunification with their families. A robust relationship between a child or youth’s birth parents and foster parents or kinship caregivers can help achieve this outcome and reduce trauma for everyone. These relationships are best nurtured when child welfare staff, parent partners, court and legal personnel, court advocates, foster parent organizations and other service providers are supportive and help facilitate early and ongoing communication.

We are excited to bring you the 2022 New Jersey Resources Directory! The guide is a
comprehensive resource identifying the various programs and services the Department of
Human Services offers to New Jersey residents, caregivers and advocates.
In this guide, a family can find out more information on how to apply for food, income
and employment assistance, as well as health care and much more. A caregiver can get
information on support programs and services to assist them in caring for their loved ones.
And individuals with disabilities and their families can get information on various services that
include in-home supports, vocational rehabilitation, and education.
If you have any questions or need further assistance, you can reach our certified Information and
Referral specialists through the Division of Disability Services toll-free at 1-888-285-3036.

The National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers (Strategy) is the result of three
years of focused effort by two Congressionally mandated advisory councils: The
Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage (RAISE) Act Family Caregiving
Advisory Council and The Advisory Council to Support Grandparents Raising
Grandchildren (SGRG) (collectively referred to herein as the Advisory Councils).
The two Advisory Councils were formed in 2019 to explore and document the
challenges faced by family caregivers and kin and grandparent caregivers, respectively.
Each was charged with providing actionable recommendations for supporting their
corresponding caregiving populations in a holistic way both now and in the future. In
addition, the RAISE Act directed the development of a family caregiving strategy.

In the U.S, almost 2.7 million children are currently being raised by kin—family members other than their parents[1]. These families have been formed through both formal and informal processes. For the wellbeing of these children and their families, as well as for the professionals who serve them, we must take a more critical look at the current practices of kinship care and adoption.

Before formal adoption policies were established either in the United States or abroad, kinship care was a common practice in most cultures around the world. For centuries, when parents felt unable to raise a child or protect their safety for a period of time or indefinitely, they often reached out to relatives to step in and care for a child or children [2]. This common practice of relying on relatives to help raise children still exists alongside formalized domestic and international adoption and foster care programs[3]. However, because of these informal roots, many involved in kinship care and adoption are not receiving the necessary support to make permanent placement for these children secure and successful. Today there is often a gap in understanding how to address the needs of children who have experienced hardship and trauma and a lack of consistency in how to best support and educate families stepping in to care for these children.

Fact Sheet
Grand families: Strengths and Challenges.

This Resource Guide was developed by the Office
on Child Abuse and Neglect (OCAN) within the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s
Bureau, Child Welfare Information Gateway, and the
FRIENDS National Center for Community-Based Child
Abuse Prevention. OCAN released its first Resource
Guide more than 15 years ago with the goal of raising
awareness about emerging child abuse prevention
concepts. It was created primarily to support communitybased
service providers who work to prevent child
maltreatment and promote family well-being. However,
over the years many others—including policymakers,
health-care providers, program administrators, teachers,
child care providers, parent leaders, mentors, and clergy—have found the resources useful.