What is this program?
Edgewood’s Kinship Support Network was established to recognize and support the many family members who often step up when crises, abuse, illness, incarceration, or violence separates children from their parents. We support kinship care providers in both San Francisco and San Mateo counties.
Kinship caregivers, who often become parents unexpectedly, face unique challenges to successfully raising children, including difficulties enrolling children in school, authorizing medical treatment, maintaining their public housing leases, obtaining affordable legal services, and accessing a variety of federal benefits and services. Almost one-fifth of grandparents responsible for their grandchildren live in poverty.
In San Francisco, 1 in 7 children are living in households headed by grandparents or other relatives. Relative caregivers often struggle with special needs linked to age, poverty, poor health, social isolation, and inadequate access to information and services. Edgewood Kinship addresses the unique needs of each caregiver and child by providing referrals to services and a supportive community.
What Services do you Offer?
Edgewood’s Kinship Support Networks in San Francisco and San Mateo fill the gaps in public social services to support kinship caregivers and the children they care for.
The Kinship Support Network offers comprehensive services to support kinship families, including:
- Case management
- Caregiver support groups in multiple languages located throughout San Francisco and San Mateo counties
- Parenting and educational workshops
- Food and supplies
- Independent living skills and classes
- Family activities and celebrations
- Wellness activities for caregivers (mindfulness, stress reduction, harm reduction)
- Referrals to Edgewood’s Outpatient Mental Health Services program
We provide critical case management, opportunities to build connections with other community groups at Edgewood, and specialized services for each family. We also provide support through HealthyKin, a nursing case management program provided to families through home and office visits, including nursing assessments, implementation and management of a care plan, and coordination of health care with other community service providers.
