National SOGIE Center – Chosen Affirming Family Finding

The National Center for Youth with Diverse Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity & Expression (The National SOGIE Center), has officially launched an eLearning module that the Kinnect team supported to develop. LGBTQ+ Adapted Family Finding & Engagement is now available online to the world! This would not have been possible without the input and support of Quality Improvement Center (QIC) members and of our Kinnect team members: Heather Jamison, Rick Dencer, Roxana Bell, Katherine Mueller, Stephanie Beleal, and Shannon Deinhart. The 45-minute self-paced eLearning can be accessed here: Workforce Initiatives & Trainings – The National SOGIE Center

In 2023, the National SOGIE Center added Kinnect’s Chosen Affirming Family Finding (CAFF) approach, manual, training, and resources to their website for public use!  This partnership is designed to provide culturally responsive supports to those working with children, young people and their families in family-serving systems.  Efforts to not only support but advocate for and improve care for young people with diverse SOGIE is a priority for both Kinnect and The National SOGIE Center. From 2019-2021, the Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services and Kinnect developed and implemented CAFF as part of the QIC-LGBTQ2S.  CAFF was created with the intent of helping older LGBTQ+ young people in foster care to build relational and legal permanency by identifying and engaging connections who could act as permanent and affirming sources of support.

The National SOGIE Center website has launched a page dedicated to CAFF. This page describes what CAFF is, provides a data dashboard showcasing preliminary findings, testimonials, how to bring CAFF to an organization, and a self-paced training offering for the family finding process.

Kinnect is proud to be recognized as a partner in affirming young people in their journey and seeks to continue sharing their findings with others who want to join in the effort.

The National SOGIE Center is a collaborative led by Innovation Institute at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work and is comprised of numerous organizations working to improve the lives of children and youth with diverse SOGIE involved in systems of care.  

Link to CAFF page: https://sogiecenter.org/programs/caff/