Grant Award Reinstates Kinship Caregiver Program, Continues Supervised Visitation Program | Families

BUFFALO, N.Y., June 7, 2012 – Relative caregivers of children again have a place to turn for support, information and advocacy, thanks to a $310,000 state grant awarded to Catholic Charities of Buffalo that allows for the return of the Kinship Caregiver Program.

The grant also provides for the continuation of Catholic Charities’ Therapeutic Supervised Visitation Program, court-referred services for families experiencing conflict with separation, divorce or child custody.

The TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) Prevention Services grant from the New York State Office of Children Services will fund the two programs through April 2013.

Kinship caregiver services will now be offered in Erie and Niagara counties, and include case management and information and referral for relatives caring for children.
 
“These services are essential to families in the Buffalo-Niagara area, many of whom are low income and often not aware of the support available to them as a relative caring for a child alone,” said Dennis C. Walczyk, Catholic Charities of Buffalo Chief Executive Officer. “Kinship caregiver services also can help to keep children in relative homes, sparing the greater expense of foster care and providing a safe and stable environment.”

Originally funded in 2005, the Kinship Caregiver program assisted more than 1,100 caregivers and children in Erie and Niagara counties until state budget cutbacks forced the closure of the program at the end of June 2011. Catholic Charities has continued to operate kinship caregiver services in Cattaraugus County.

Catholic Charities began offering supervised visitation in 1994. The program, which receives referrals from Erie County Family Court, has provided a continuum of services for families experiencing divorce and separation since 1997. The program site is 1581 Bailey Ave., Buffalo.

For more information on the Kinship Caregiver Program in Erie County, please call the 525 Washington St. office at (716) 856-4494 and in Niagara County, call the Niagara Falls office at (716) 282-2351. For more information on Supervised Visitation services, please call (716) 896-6390. Information about these programs also is available at Services - Children and Families at ccwny.org.

Catholic Charities is the most comprehensive direct human service provider serving all eight counties of Western New York, with 70 programs and 61 locations. Founded in 1923, Catholic Charities also provides, without regard to religious affiliation, comprehensive counseling services for children and families, anti-domestic violence programming and emergency services, among other social and mental health services.

For more information about Catholic Charities, go to www.ccwny.org or call (716) 218-1400. Check out Catholic Charities on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ccbuffalo and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ccbuffalo.

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