A program that began in 2000 in just seven counties is now being offered statewide – with Franklin County’s opportunity launching this spring.

The Kids and Kin Program, coordinated through the Family Guidance Center of Alabama based in Montgomery and funded by the state Department of Human Resources, targets grandparents, aunts, uncles and older siblings – or cousins or other relatives – who provide childcare for their relative’s children. It connects these caregivers with educational workshops on myriad topics, a quarterly newsletter, a network of other relative caregivers and other crucial resources to assist them in nurturing the children in their care.

“Our goal is help provide support and education,” explained Alisha Albright. Albright is the local child care partner for Kids and Kin, coordinating the program in Colbert, Lauderdale and Lawrence counties, as well as Franklin County. “What we find in Alabama, especially, is that relatives are often with the children more than the parents because the parents usually both have full-time jobs, and relatives usually don’t have much of a support system or resources to help them.”

Two workshops will be offered each month, at a time and location to be determined by a focus group of interested individuals. Albright is currently recruiting those individuals.

The program was offered in 34 counties for the past several years; in fall 2016, funding was secured to open Kids and Kin statewide.

“We’re really excited about that. It’s a really big deal for us,” said program specialist Barbie Briscoe, adding that Kids and Kin is now the first and only FGC program to be funded for statewide operation.

At the twice-monthly workshops, expert speakers will present on a variety of topics from a wide-ranging curriculum. “One of our classes is on positive discipline strategies. That has really changed in our culture – moving away from negative things,” Albright said. Other classes give caregivers insight on topics like language development, health and safety, child development, school preparedness and more. A CPR and first aid class will also be offered.

“We want to help these family members really understand the importance of their role,” Briscoe added. “It’s not just babysitting.”

As Briscoe pointed out, children who are, for example, in daycare are under the care of trained professionals who are required to obtain continued training and education, whereas “a grandparent doesn’t have that option. They don’t have that ability to get those ongoing educational credits,” Briscoe said.

“We hope to provide better childcare for all the children in Alabama,” Albright added.

The program is voluntary and free. Participants are not obligated to commit to a certain number of sessions, but diligent attendees will find themselves benefiting from free toys and educational materials as well as other incentives, not to mention the benefit of the support network they will develop, Albright said.

For Albright, her own background in being cared for by her grandmother reinforced the importance of this program and her desire to offer these resources.

“She passed in November,” said Albright, who embraced the job opportunity with Kids and Kin, which provided the added bonus of enabling her to move from Walker County closer to family in Lauderdale County. “It was like my grandmother pointing me in the right direction because her role in my life was so important. So I want to make sure all these other children who have those people in their lives are getting the quality education and childcare they deserve.”

The program is targeted to those who provide care to relative children ages birth to 12 years.

For more information or to express interest in the program, call Albright at 334-465-9205 or aalbright@familyguidancecenter.org.