The City of Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) is seeking applications from agencies interested in supporting kinship caregivers. A Request for Proposal (RFP) posted February 5 will invest in kinship caregiver support services to reduce physical and emotional stress due to caregiving so they can successfully age in their community.
Kinship care includes relatives caring for children aged 18 or younger, on a dependency order within the child welfare system, as well as relatives caring for children not formally involved with the public welfare system.
“In King County, 18,000 grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and others are raising younger family members,” said Mary Mitchell, director of Aging and Disability Services, a division of Seattle Human Services that serves as the Area Agency on Aging for Seattle and King County. “Kinship care is an alternative to foster care. Taking care of family is a value in several communities. Kinship care provides support for relatives who are caring for extended family members without support from the foster care or other support systems. We fund community-based services that can help kinship caregivers provide good care, hold true to their cultural values, and maintain their own quality of life.”
Approximately $274,000 is available through this Request for Proposal from State Kinship Navigator and Older Americans Act Title IIIE funding. Focus populations for this funding are Black, Indigenous, and Latinx kinship caregivers, based on available data and the department’s commitment to eliminating disparate outcomes.
HSD will offer one virtual information session (via Zoom) on Wednesday, February 14, 2024, from 10–11:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Agency representatives interested in learning more about this RFQ are encouraged to attend the session and ask questions. Details are available on the RFP webpage.
Completed application submissions are due by 12:00 noon Pacific Time on Friday, March 15, 2024. For more information, visit the RFP webpage or e-mail Karen Winston, Funding Process Coordinator, at Karen.Winston@seattle.gov.