§ 627 — Kinship Navigators

(a) The Secretary of Health and Human Services may make matching grants to State, local, or tribal child welfare agencies, private nonprofit organizations that have experience in working with foster children or children in kinship care arrangements, and institutions of higher education (as defined under section 1001 of title 20), for the purpose of administering programs to help children who are in, or at risk of entering, foster care reconnect with family members through the implementation of a kinship navigator program to assist kinship caregivers in learning about, finding, and using programs and services to meet the needs of the children they are raising and their own needs, and to promote effective partnerships among public and private agencies to ensure kinship caregiver families are served, which program— (1) shall be coordinated with other State or local agencies that promote service coordination or provide information and referral services, including the entities that provide 2–1–1 or 3–1–1 information systems where available, to avoid duplication or fragmentation of services to kinship care families; (2) shall be planned and operated in consultation with kinship caregivers and organizations representing them, youth raised by kinship caregivers, relevant government agencies, and relevant community-based or faith-based organizations; (3) shall establish information and referral systems that link (via toll-free access) kinship caregivers, kinship support group facilitators, and kinship service providers to— (A) each other; (B) eligibility and enrollment information for Federal, State, and local benefits; (C) relevant training to assist kinship caregivers in caregiving and in obtaining benefits and services; (D) relevant legal assistance and help in obtaining legal services; and (E) connections to individualized assistance, as needed; (4) shall provide outreach to kinship care families, including by establishing, distributing, and updating a kinship care website, or other relevant guides or outreach materials; (5) shall promote partnerships between public and private agencies, including schools, community based or faith-based organizations, and relevant government agencies, to increase their knowledge of the needs of kinship care families and other individuals who are willing and able to be foster parents for children in foster care under the responsibility of the State who are themselves parents to promote better services for those families; (6) may establish and support a kinship care ombudsman with authority to intervene and help kinship caregivers access services; and (7) may support any other activities designed to assist kinship caregivers in obtaining benefits and services to improve their caregiving. (b) An entity desiring to receive a matching grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary an application, at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require, including— (1) a description of how the grant will be used to implement the activities described in subsection (a); (2) a description of the types of children and families to be served, including how the children and families will be identified and recruited, and an initial projection of the number of children and families to be served; (3) a description of how the entity will directly fund, or provide data to the Secretary for, an evaluation which will publish and submit information to the clearinghouse described in section 676(d)(2) of this title and which is designed to meet the requirements of section 671(e)(4)(C) of this title, or a description of how the funds will be used to help the State transition to a program for which the State will seek reimbursement under section 674(a)(7) of this title; (4) if the entity is a private organization— (A) documentation of support from the relevant local or State child welfare agency; or (B) a description of how the organization plans to coordinate its services and activities with those offered by the relevant local or State child welfare agency; (5) an assurance that the entity will cooperate fully with any evaluation provided for by the Secretary under this section; and (6) if the entity is a State, local or tribal child welfare agency— (A) documentation of support from a relevant community-based organization with experience serving kinship families when applicable; or (B) a description of how the organization plans to coordinate its services and activities with those offered by the relevant community-based organizations. (1) The Secretary may award a grant under this section for a period of not less than 1 year and not more than 3 years. (2) The Secretary may not award a grant under this section to more than 30 new grantees each fiscal year. (d) An entity to which a grant is made under this section may use the grant to pay not more than 75 percent of the cost of the activities to be carried out by the entity pursuant to this section. (e) A grantee under this section may provide not more than 50 percent of the amount which the grantee is required to expend to carry out the activities for which a grant is awarded under this section in kind, fairly evaluated, including plant, equipment, or services. (f) A grantee under this section shall use the grant in accordance with the approved application for the grant. (g) The Secretary may reserve 2 percent of the funds made available under section 629g(b)(6) of this title for each fiscal year to provide technical assistance to recipients of grants under this section.