Grandparents as Parents Support Network

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Executive Summary

Grandparents as Parents Support Network is a nonprofit in Minnesota that provides support groups, benefits navigation, legal aid referrals, respite care and material assistance to grandparents and other kinship caregivers who are raising children because the children's parents are unable to do so. We serve caregivers who stepped in during a family crisis and are now navigating the legal, financial and emotional weight of raising a child - often for the second time in their lives.

Kinship caregivers - grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings - provide a family-based alternative to foster care for hundreds of thousands of children in the United States. They do this without the training, the stipends or the support system that licensed foster parents receive. Many kinship caregivers are retired, on fixed incomes and were not expecting to raise young children again. A network that gives them peer support, helps them access benefits they qualify for but have not claimed and connects them to legal resources for formal guardianship is what keeps these placements stable. With this grant we will pay our case navigators and provide direct material assistance. We never give cash to caregivers. We call 988 for anyone in crisis and 911 in an emergency.

What we are asking for. Our program has a Year 1 budget of about $232,000. We are asking for $58,000 from a children and families foundation for case navigator salaries and direct material assistance. The rest comes from other grants and donors listed in the funding section. Every dollar amount in this plan is an estimate.

Company Description

Grandparents as Parents Support Network is a nonprofit organization recognized under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, governed by a volunteer board that includes two grandparents currently raising grandchildren, a family court judge (retired), a pediatric social worker and three community members. The board meets monthly, approves the budget and oversees the executive director. A new organization without its own determination letter can use a fiscal sponsor, explained in the funding section.

What we believe. A grandparent who steps in for a grandchild at their own expense, without asking, is performing an act of love that the whole family system depends on. They deserve support, not just an expectation that they will figure it out.

What we do:
- Monthly support groups. Groups of 8 to 12 kinship caregivers meet monthly, facilitated by a trained peer support leader. Topics include legal questions (facilitated by an attorney who volunteers), benefits navigation, self-care and parenting teenagers when you are 65.
- Case navigation. Each caregiver who requests one-on-one help is assigned a case navigator who helps them apply for TANF, Social Security benefits, Medicaid, the Northstar Kinship Assistance program and other benefits they may qualify for.
- Legal aid referrals. We work with three Minnesota legal aid organizations to provide referrals and warm handoffs for caregivers seeking formal legal guardianship, adoption or custody modification.
- Respite care coordination. We coordinate and provide partial reimbursement for respite care so caregivers can attend medical appointments, take a night off or handle an emergency.
- Material assistance. School supplies, winter clothing, cribs, car seats and other items for children in kinship placement, provided directly by the organization. We do not give cash.
- Information and training. A quarterly all-day training event covers specific topics: understanding an IEP, talking to a teenager about their parent's addiction, understanding the Northstar Kinship Assistance program.

What we do not do. We do not give cash to caregivers. We do not provide legal representation ourselves. We do not supervise children or make placement decisions. We call 911 in any emergency.

Who we serve. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings and other informal kinship caregivers in Hennepin and Ramsey counties raising children who are not in the child welfare system or who have exited the child welfare system into informal kinship care.

Our board has at least five members, including at least one person who has used our services or lives in the community we serve, and only a minority of board members may be related to each other or paid by the organization.

We keep a written conflict of interest policy, a whistleblower policy and a record retention policy, and the board reviews them every year.

Problem & Opportunity

Kinship caregivers raise hundreds of thousands of children in Minnesota without the support that licensed foster parents receive.

1. No automatic support. Kinship caregivers who are not licensed foster parents receive no automatic stipend, no training and no case management. A grandmother who takes in her grandchild to keep the child out of foster care often does so entirely alone.
2. Benefits complexity. Caregivers who are eligible for TANF child-only grants, the Northstar Kinship Assistance program, Medicaid for the child and other supports frequently do not know these benefits exist or cannot navigate the application process.
3. Legal limbo. Many kinship placements are informal. Without legal guardianship or custody, caregivers cannot enroll a child in school, consent to medical care or access educational records. The process for obtaining guardianship costs $1,000 to $3,000 in filing fees and attorney costs that most kinship caregivers cannot afford.
4. Caregiver burnout. Grandparents raising grandchildren report higher rates of depression, physical health deterioration and social isolation than either grandparents who are not caregivers or foster parents who receive support services.

Why it matters now. Minnesota has approximately 50,000 children living with kinship caregivers outside the formal child welfare system. Hennepin and Ramsey counties together have an estimated 14,000 children in informal kinship care. When kinship placements collapse because the caregiver is overwhelmed and unsupported, children enter foster care at significantly higher cost to the state and higher disruption to the child.

How we know the need is real. We surveyed 60 kinship caregivers at a community health fair, reviewed the Minnesota DHS kinship care report and talked with Hennepin County social workers and legal aid attorneys who work with this population. Seventy percent of the caregivers we surveyed did not know they were eligible for any financial assistance. The data is in the appendix.

Products & Services

What the funded project will do. With this grant we will pay case navigator salaries and fund the direct material assistance pool.

How a caregiver takes part:
1. Referral or walk-in. A caregiver is referred by a county social worker, a school counselor or a legal aid office, or calls us directly. Many hear about us from another grandparent.
2. Orientation. The case navigator explains the program, what we can and cannot do and what the caregiver can expect.
3. Benefits screen. The navigator runs a benefits eligibility screen covering TANF, Medicaid, Northstar Kinship Assistance, Social Security and any other benefit the caregiver or child might qualify for.
4. Application support. The navigator assists with completing and submitting applications and follows up on denials.
5. Legal aid referral. If the caregiver needs guardianship or custody, the navigator makes a warm referral to a legal aid partner.
6. Support group connection. The caregiver is invited to the monthly group closest to their home.
7. Material assistance. School supplies, clothing, a car seat or a crib are provided directly when needed. We source donated items and purchase what we cannot source.
8. Respite coordination. The navigator identifies respite care options and provides partial reimbursement up to $200 per quarter per caregiver.

What the grant pays for. This request covers case navigator salaries and the direct material assistance pool.

What we do not promise. We do not promise that any benefit application will be approved or that any legal aid referral will result in guardianship. We track caregivers served, benefits applications submitted and outcomes, material assistance provided and legal aid referrals made, and we report honestly.

Safety. We are mandatory reporters. We call 911 in any emergency involving a child. We never share caregiver information with the county child welfare system without written consent except as required by law.

Market Analysis

Who benefits from this project are kinship caregivers and the children in their care in Hennepin and Ramsey counties.

Who we serve. Grandparents, aunts, uncles and older siblings raising children in informal kinship care in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, with priority for those on fixed incomes and those whose placements are most at risk of collapsing.

How many we plan to serve. About 200 caregivers through case navigation and support groups in Year 1. By Year 5 we plan to serve about 400 caregivers annually. We chose those numbers from navigator caseload capacity and support group size.

Where we serve. Hennepin and Ramsey counties, with support groups at six community sites.

Who else benefits. The children who stay in a family placement rather than entering foster care. Hennepin and Ramsey counties, which spend significantly less per child in kinship care than in foster care.

We choose how many caregivers to serve from the navigators' available case capacity, not from the size of the need.

Competitive Landscape

Other resources in the Twin Cities.

1. Hennepin County Social Services. Manages licensed foster care placements but is not set up to provide ongoing support to informal kinship caregivers.
2. Catholic Charities and Lutheran Social Service. Provide some kinship support programming but are faith-specific and do not serve all caregivers seeking secular services.
3. AARP Minnesota. Provides some national resources and advocacy for grandparent caregivers but has no local direct service program.
4. Legal aid organizations. Provide guardianship legal assistance but do not provide the peer support, material assistance or benefits navigation that caregivers also need.

What makes us different. We are the only secular, full-service kinship caregiver support organization in Hennepin and Ramsey counties. We combine peer support, benefits navigation, legal aid referrals, respite coordination and material assistance in one place.

How we avoid duplication. We meet quarterly with Hennepin County, legal aid partners and Lutheran Social Service to coordinate referrals.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How we will reach caregivers once the project is funded.

County social workers. Hennepin and Ramsey county social workers refer informal kinship caregivers who are not receiving services when a case closes or when a child exits foster care into kinship care.

Schools. School counselors refer families when a grandparent-enrolled child's home situation becomes apparent.

Legal aid. Legal aid attorneys refer caregivers seeking guardianship who also need benefits navigation and support.

Word of mouth. The most reliable channel. Once a grandparent finds the group, she tells every grandmother she knows.

Community events. We participate in senior health fairs and community resource fairs.

Funding cultivation. Children and families foundations, federal Title IV-E kinship caregiver funding, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Minnesota Legacy Fund and state children and families grants are our primary prospects.

Operations Plan

How the project will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1. Month 1: confirm six support group sites, hire the second navigator if not yet in place, confirm legal aid partner agreements. Months 2 to 12: run monthly support groups, manage active navigator caseloads, distribute material assistance on a rolling basis.

Space. Staff work from a small office in a community organization in Minneapolis. Support groups meet at six community sites in Hennepin and Ramsey counties.

Partners. Hennepin County Social Services, three legal aid organizations, the six support group host sites and an AARP Minnesota advisor who volunteers at quarterly trainings. Each has a written agreement.

Money controls. The direct material assistance pool is held in a separate account. No cash is given to caregivers. Material purchases are made by the organization and delivered directly. Two people approve every purchase.

Records and reporting. We track caregivers enrolled, benefits applications submitted and outcomes, material assistance provided, legal aid referrals, support group attendance and respite reimbursements. We report to funders twice a year.

Management & Organization

The executive director manages the program and the partner relationships. Case navigators manage individual caregiver caseloads and facilitate support groups with peer leader support. A peer support leader who is a kinship caregiver herself co-facilitates each group.

The team. Pay figures include payroll taxes and workers' compensation insurance. The numbers in parentheses are how many people we plan to have in Years 1 through 5. A number with a half, such as 2.5, means a hire phased in during the year or one part-time person.
- Executive Director: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 (Years 1 to 5), about $65,000 a year.
- Case Navigator: 2, 2, 3, 3, 3 (Years 1 to 5), about $48,000 a year each.
- Program Associate (added as the budget grows): 0, 0.5, 0.5, 1, 1.5 (Years 1 to 5), about $38,000 a year each, hired as new grant money arrives.
- Peer Support Leaders (stipend-based): 6 leaders at $1,800 stipend per year each.

Governance and money controls. The board reviews financials monthly. An outside accountant prepares the yearly tax return. Every grant is in its own budget line. The material assistance pool is tracked separately.

Feedback and complaints. Caregivers can give feedback to navigators, at support groups or by a phone call. We reply within five business days and report themes to the board quarterly. No caregiver loses services for speaking up.

Milestones Narrative

Goals for each of the first five years. These are goals, not promises.
- Before the grant starts: confirm six support group sites, finalize legal aid partner agreements, recruit peer support leaders.
- Year 1: serve about 200 caregivers, complete about 280 benefits applications, provide material assistance to about 120 children. Budget about $232,000.
- Year 2: add a third navigator and expand to eight support group sites. Budget about $278,000.
- Year 3: launch a caregiver peer leader training program to build a volunteer navigator pipeline. Budget about $315,000.
- Year 4: apply for federal Title IV-E kinship navigator program funding. Budget about $355,000.
- Year 5: serve about 400 caregivers and publish a plain results report. Budget about $392,000.

How we will measure results: caregivers served, benefits applications submitted and approved, material assistance provided, legal aid referrals made, support group attendance and respite reimbursements. We report to funders twice a year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $58,000 from a children and families foundation for case navigator salaries and direct material assistance, for January through December 2027.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Case Navigator salaries (part), $44,000 (other funds cover the remaining $52,000 of the two navigators' combined salary).
- Other: Direct material assistance pool - school supplies, clothing, car seats, cribs - $14,000 (other funds add $8,000 for a total pool of $22,000).

Other money in the program. This request is about 28% of Year 1 grant income. Other grants and donors pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $232,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $6,300 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $208,000; Individual Donors and Community Events $24,000. Year 1 costs: executive director $65,000; case navigator $96,000; peer support leader stipends $9,400; material assistance pool $19,100; respite reimbursement pool $13,000; support group venue and facilitation costs $6,900; quarterly training event $5,200; office and reporting $10,400.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $12,800 are paid once from startup funds: $3,400 for laptops and a secure client notes system, $2,800 for legal setup, mandatory reporter training and partner agreement review, $2,400 for caregiver resource guide design and printing, $2,200 for peer support leader training curriculum, and $2,000 for banners and a website.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($12,800), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $2,300) and a cash cushion of about $56,200, which is about 3 months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $71,500. We start with $20,000 of our own savings and $52,000 from an Annie E. Casey Foundation startup grant and board contributions, $72,000 in all, which covers that amount.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $232,000 in Year 1 to about $392,000 in Year 5. Grant revenue is planned at $208,000, $204,000, $230,000, $258,000 and $252,000 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows as sponsors and donors join. The program plans to end each year with a surplus, about $6,300, $25,400, $4,300, $12,300 and $13,700 in Years 1 to 5, which we put into savings. Some years are larger because new grant money arrives before the added staff are hired. The lowest year-end cash in the plan is about $66,300.

After the grant. Federal Title IV-E Kinship Navigator funding becomes the primary federal revenue stream in Year 4. Individual donors grow as community awareness of kinship caregiving increases.

Risks:
- Benefits policy changes can eliminate programs caregivers depend on. We track Minnesota DHS policy changes monthly.
- A caregiver placement may collapse during case management. We document our attempts to stabilize and refer to county resources when we have exhausted our capacity.
- A major grant may end. We grow individual donors and community event income each year.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach before you send this proposal:

- Your IRS determination letter showing 501(c)(3) status, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your board list and board minutes approving the application.
- Your most recent budget and financial statements.
- A list of other funders and what each has given or been asked to give.
- Legal aid partner referral agreements.
- Support group site host agreements.
- Mandatory reporter training certificates for all navigators.
- Peer support leader training documentation.
- Material assistance and respite reimbursement policies.
- Caregiver needs survey data (60 caregivers, 70% unaware of financial assistance).
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers:
- Grant Revenue: $208,000 in Year 1, planned to reach $252,000 in Year 5.
- Individual Donors and Events: $24,000 in Year 1, growing to $140,000 in Year 5.
- Navigators: 2 full-time at $48,000 each per year.
- Material assistance pool: $22,000 per year (this grant $14,000 plus other funds $8,000).
- Respite reimbursement: $200 per caregiver per quarter, for 75 active caregivers using respite = $15,000 per year.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate.

Plain words used in this proposal:
- Kinship caregiver: a relative or close family friend who is raising a child because the child's parent is unable to do so.
- Informal kinship care: a family-based arrangement where a relative raises a child without a formal court order or child welfare involvement.
- Northstar Kinship Assistance: Minnesota's program that provides financial assistance to relatives who are raising children who previously received foster care services.
- TANF child-only grant: a cash assistance payment available in many states for children living with a non-parent caregiver.
- Guardianship: a legal relationship in which a court gives a person the legal authority to make decisions for a child.
- Title IV-E Kinship Navigator: a federal funding program for organizations that help kinship caregivers access support and services.
- 501(c)(3): the tax status that lets a nonprofit receive tax-deductible gifts and many grants.

Startup Costs