When family systems break down or a crisis occurs, we’re here to help. We work tirelessly to make sure every child is cared for in a safe and secure home—whether they need short-term care while a family is in transition or a permanent place to call their own.
TRADITIONAL FOSTER CARE
We make sure youth with unique needs (from birth through age 21) have a safe place to live in a family setting. Read more about our approach to foster care at the link above.
EMERGENCY FOSTER CARE
When kids need immediate placement in a safe and nurturing environment—usually in situations of abuse, neglect, or unsafe living conditions—we provide 24/7 emergency short-term foster care.
SHORT-TERM FOSTER CARE
When our foster families need a period of planned relief (30 days or less), we line up licensed providers to fill in as needed.
WHOLE FAMILY FOSTER CARE
Ideally, families should be together. That’s why we provide intensive support and collaborative services to parents who are at-risk of losing their children. Through this program, an entire family will live with a skilled, licensed foster care provider who can model healthy parenting techniques, set good examples, and help educate the parents on how to keep their kids safe and well cared for.
SUPERVISED VISITATION
We provide opportunities for foster kids to spend time with their families and/or receive therapeutic support in a supervised setting. These visits can take place in our Nexus-Kindred offices, in the family’s home, or in other community settings.
FOSTER YOUTH SUPPORT
We provide more than just a home for the kids we serve—we also make sure their most critical needs are met. We develop an individualized care plan for each youth, based on a careful assessment of their needs and strengths—using the CANS assessment tool [Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths]—and, using that info, we match each child with the foster home that fits them best. We also provide special medical care for kids with complex conditions who might otherwise require hospitalization or institutional care. And we provide support services to youth ages 14 and older who are transitioning out of foster care and into independent living.
FOSTER PARENT SUPPORT
Our foster parents are incredibly important to us, and we’re here to provide ongoing training, 24/7 crisis support, and respite care along the way.
As a licensed adoption agency, we work hard to help bring kids and parents together in permanent family settings. Our services are provided free of charge and include:
- Adoption home studies and home study updates
- Parent training and education
- Child-specific recruitment services
- Child placement services
- Relative adoption services
- Post adoption services
Nexus-Kindred’s Kinship Support Program serves any family system who is caring for a relative or kin child. The program provides support, referrals, and education to caregivers in hopes to stabilize family systems and set everyone up for success.
Kinship Home Study Services
The kinship home study service allows any relative family or assumed kin currently caring for a youth to pursue foster care licensing with Nexus-Kindred. Nexus-Kindred provides assistance in completing the home study, including scheduling appointments that work around the family’s schedule, accessing needed education, and collaborating to overcome obstacles.
Intensive Family Support
Intensive Family Support provides support to relative and kinship caregivers being served by the county or tribal foster care system. Nexus-Kindred provides intensive in-home and ongoing support including referrals for community resources, and assistance working through challenges caring for relative youth.
Intensive Licensing Support
Nexus-Kindred offers in-home assistance to relative and kinship caregivers as they undergo the licensing process with their local county or tribe to become a foster care provider. This would include ongoing communication with the licensing workers and assisting the family to overcome any barriers and obstacles.
Kinship Engagement Services
Kinship Engagement Services support relative and kinship families not being served by the county who could benefit from in-home, regular support. Nexus-Kindred assists relatives and kin to cope with challenges presented by caring for relative youth, demands of external systems, and stress on the caregivers through completing resource eligibility applications and offering referrals and advocacy.
This Kinship Navigation Tool is a collaborative effort on behalf of the Kinship Working Group from AspireMN. This tool offers free, unlimited access to information and answers to some of the most frequently asked questions for kinship caregivers.
