The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families is launching a new kinship care program to support relatives and close family friends raising a child who isn’t their own. The program helps caregivers access legal, financial, emotional, and community support—whether they’re caring for the child informally, through child welfare, or with a legal arrangement.
The goal is to connect families to the services and support they need to thrive.
Why it matters
Kinship caregivers take on a big responsibility — and they shouldn’t have to do it alone. The program is here to help families:
- Stay financially stable
- Find trusted support in their communities
- Get connected to services like health care, food, housing, and child care.
How the program works
The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families provides grants to help communities create, run and improve kinship navigator programs using an evidence-based foster kinship model. These grants are used to:
- Improve access to services that support family stability
- Encourage families and communities to work together in supportive, respectful ways
- Train kinship navigators to guide and assist caregivers
- Use tools like Help Me Connect and Bridge to Benefits to match families with programs they may qualify for.
Find a kinship navigator program
Address: 930 40th Street NW, Rochester, MN 55901
Phone: 507-218-3255 (answered Monday to Friday during business hours)
Hours:
- Monday and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to noon;
- Tuesday and Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Wednesday by appointment only
Address: 709 University Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55404
Hours: Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Phone: 651-917-4640; 877-917-4640 (toll free)
Email: warmline@lssmn.org
In-person kinship support group
Group Name: Kinship Support and Education Group
When: 10-11:30 a.m. on the first Saturday of the month
Where: Peace Lutheran Church, 4512 France Ave N, Robbinsdale, MN 55422
Child care: Available with registration
Register: Kinship Support and Education Group first Saturday of the month
Virtual kinship support group
Group Name: Parenting Across Generations
When: 9:30-10:45 a.m. on the first and third Fridays of the month
Where: Online
Register: Parenting Across Generations on the first and third Fridays of the month
Contact: Janet Salo at 612-879-5379 or janet.salo@lssmn.org
Address: 412 Great Oak Drive, Waite Park, MN 56387
Hours: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Phone: 320-200-2442; 833-402-2442 (toll free)
Program name: A Community Caring for its Children – Kinship Navigator Program
Address: 2100 Plymouth Ave N., Minneapolis, MN 55411
Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Phone: 612-302-3100
Learn more: Kinship navigation: Developing an evidence-based program
