RAPP Resources

Click Here for our order form.

The Relatives As Parents Program (RAPP) One Page Program Descriptions, 2005

Developed for our 2005 National Orientation and Training Conference, the Relatives As Parents Program (RAPP) One Page Program Descriptions list and describe the programmatic initiatives of our RAPP Network. Free, limited copies are available

Parenting The Second Time Around
 Cornell Cooperative Extension

A Cornell Cooperative Extension Workshop Series for Grandparents, Relatives and Others who are parenting again.  This curriculum is designed for experienced Workshop Leaders, Professionals, Social Workers or Adult Educators.  The Manual contains outlines for six workshops, with handouts and supplementary materials.  Each workshop is planned for a two-hour block of time.  Topics include: child development; discipline and guidance; acknowledging ambivalent feelings; rebuilding a family; legal issues and advocacy. Quantity discounts are available. Visit their website, http://www.cce.cornell.edu/store/customer/product.php?productid=16433&cat=&page=1or e-mail: resctr@cornell.edu.  

The Ties That Bind: Training for Caregivers
Children of Alcoholic's Foundation

These resources focus on parental substance abuse and its impact on all members of the kinship care family.  The curriculum is designed to be facilitated by a professional with a group of kinship caregivers.  The modules can be used individually, in combination, or as a whole.

The Ties That Bind is based on a family systems approach and strives to generate understanding and awareness of the issues facing caregivers, children and birthparents.  The goals of the training are to:

  • Teach participants basic information about alcohol and other drug addiction
  • Promote discussion of substance abuse related issues with children
  • Provide strategies to cope with the behavioral and emotional issues children in kinship care may present
  • Help caregivers be supportive of parent/child relationships
  • Encourage utilization of available support resources
  • Promote improved relationships between caregivers and birthparents

The training combines lecture, small group discussion, and activities to provide an interactive, experiential-based learning environment.  The training can be offered through a kinship care support group, or independently.  Areas covered include drugs, alcohol, and addiction; caregivers, children, birthparents and home safety.  Topics covered include an overview of kinship care and parental substance abuse; introduction to alcohol, other drugs, and addiction; caregiver feelings; understanding and supporting the child; talking about substance abuse with children; caregiver relationships with birthparents; maintaining a safe home; supporting the parent—child relationship; and accessing support. The curriculum contains instructions, accompanying handouts, and overheads.  Facilitators have permission to duplicate these materials for use in the workshops.  In addition to step-by-step instructions, background information has been provided for facilitators who may lack expertise in particular areas. 

To learn more about the handbook, fact sheets, curriculum or training and consultation services, contact Kim Sumner-Mayer Kinship Care Outreach Manager at ksumner-mayer@phoenixhouse.org., call (646) 505-2063 or visit the Children Of Alcoholics Foundation’s website at:  www.coaf.org.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: Legal and Policy Challenges

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: Legal and Policy Challenges is a three-session, video-based program consisting of a videotape and a CD ROM which contains background information for the facilitator, detailed plans for the educational sessions, handouts and additional materials.  The program is designed for presentation to grandparents who are raising grandchildren, relatives who are raising kin, the professionals and paraprofessionals who work with them, and interested community members.  This program has been adapted from the videoconference, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: Legal and Policy Issues, produced by University of Wisconsin-Extension and Purdue Extension, which was broadcast nationally in 2001.  Where necessary, the information has been updated.  

Sponsors of the videoconference were AARP, the Brookdale Foundation, the Child Welfare League of America, Generations United, and the National Association of State Units on Aging.  Dena Targ, Professor Emeritus, Purdue University, Mary Brintnall-Peterson, Program Specialist in Aging, University of Wisconsin-Extension, and Mary Haselow-Dulin, Editing Services, Madison, Wisconsin, developed the program.  

Purdue Extension produced and is distributing this educational material for a fee.  If you would like to see an overview of the program and/or an order form, access the following Website: www.ces.purdue.edu/cfs

Best Practices Manual for Service Providers Assisting Kinship Caregivers in the State of Michigan

As part of The Brookdale Foundation State RAPP initiative, the Michigan Office of Services to the Aging has published a “Best Practices Manual for Service Providers Assisting Kinship Caregivers in the State of Michigan.”  The manual was researched and written by Ms. Krista Powers, a Hartford Fellowship/MSW Intern from the University of Michigan, in response to needs identified through a survey completed by Michigan’s sixteen area agencies on aging.  It contains resources and tools that can be adapted to provide the most appropriate and extensive services possible to kinship caregivers and the children in their care.  The guide has been distributed across the state to area agencies on aging and local service providers to assist them in developing responsive and accessible services for kinship care families in their local communities.  The guide is available free of charge from the Office of Services to the Aging or click here to download.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Simulation Toolkit Now Available!

 The Coconino Extension and Kinship Kare of Northern Arizona (KKONA) RAPP has piloted a “simulation” workshop to lead agency participants through the realistic re-creation of the challenges grandparents face raising grandchildren. The workshop was authored by the University of Arizona, Coconino Extension faculty, staff and KKONA Grandparent Mentors, (the mentors are a Brookdale supported project). The Grandparent Mentors ensured that family scenarios were realistic.

The simulation is a unique learning design because attendees drop their professional roles for six hours to become a grandparent family that includes grandchildren, grandparent and other caregiver roles whose task throughout the workshop is to experience the typical challenges that grandparent households face. This simulation promotes attitudes and systems changes among agencies that interact and serve grandparents.

Agency participants commented that they learned, “How hard it is to be able to access services for grandparents. It was so challenging to get resources. That was an eye opener,” and it is “Crystal clear that communication needs to get better for grandparents raising grandchildren (GRG’s). It was evident that resource people respond to questions only pertaining to what they deal with, not giving adequate information.” 

The Simulation Workshop is now available from The University of Arizona on CD as a toolkit. The CD includes pieces that an organizer needs to plan, replicate and host a Grandparent Raising Grandchildren Simulation for their organization or community. The toolkit is organized into four sections which includes:  Section one: the organizer’s materials. These include schedules, family profiles and other procedural materials. Section two: materials for conducting a pre-training for collaborating agencies and facilitators who assist with conducting the workshop. The third section: materials and all participants handouts for distribution on the day of the workshop. The fourth section: a bibliography and evaluation templates, both the workshop and follow-up evaluations.

 To order a copy of the toolkit contact toll-free, the University of Arizona at 1-877-763-5315. Cost is $25.00 each and does not include shipping and handling. For questions about the “simulation” workshop contact the authors at 928 774 1868 ext 12 (Beth Tucker) or ext 15 (15 Michele Lytle).


RAPP Brainstorming Sessions:

 RAPPs have brainstormed on key issues that have helped them create, expand and sustain their programs.  Here are some examples:

This list of resources has been created by or in collaboration with a Relatives As Parents Program (RAPP) and is provided for informational purposes only.  For more information about the resources listed, please see the website or contact listed.