Kinship Connections, Beech Acres Parenting Center’s program for supporting grandparents and other caregivers caring for a loved one’s child, was recently designated a “Promising Practice” by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 200,000 kids in Ohio are being cared for by their grandparents or another caregiver. A kincare provider may be a grandparent, aunt, uncle, friend, or anyone who is raising a loved one’s child. Beech Acres Parenting Center helps these caregivers find financial resources, navigate complex paperwork, and connect them with other families. We do this through the evidence-based Triple P parent education program and Natural Strength Parenting™ our unique approach to parenting. We know any change in a family situation can be traumatic for kids, so we also provide behavioral health support to these families. Kinship Connections is just one part of our complete continuum of care for families. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention evaluated Kinship Connections using pre-test and post-test measures of family protective factors and social/economic self-sufficiency from Hamilton, Clermont, Warren, and Clinton counties in Ohio. Clients who utilized the services of Kinship Connections showed improvement from first administration to follow-up, on the Arizona Self-Sufficiency Matrix, and in social support. Full details can be found on the CDC website.
