SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Wayfinder Family Services, a California nonprofit serving nearly 26,000 individuals annually statewide, held its first virtual Kinship Summit, bringing together kinship caregivers, caseworkers, supervisors, child welfare partners and state leaders for National Kinship Care Month.

Kinship care is when relatives or close family friends raise a child, allowing the child to stay connected to familiar people, family, culture and community. In informal kinship care, the child also avoids entering the foster care system. As of 2024, an estimated 2.5 million children were being raised in kinship families in the United States, according to Child Welfare Information Gateway.

Joseph Crumbley, a nationally recognized kinship expert with nearly 40 years of experience as a family therapist, trainer and consultant, delivered the Summit's keynote. Crumbley has consulted with organizations including Casey Family Programs and the Annie E. Casey Foundation and has provided training and expert testimony on kinship care nationally and internationally.

The Summit caps a year of national recognition for Wayfinder's kinship services:

• Wayfinder's Kinnections project and kinship navigation program was featured in The Gateway Exchange, Child Welfare Information Gateway's monthly series on research-backed child welfare strategies, and in GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy, the first online peer-review journal focusing on kinship families.
• The Kinnections program model has been reviewed and rated "promising" by the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse, a federal database that rates family support programs designed to prevent foster care placements.
• The Grandfamilies and Kinship Support Network named the Family Needs Scale, a practice used within Wayfinder's Kinnections program, an Exemplary Practice, one of 18 selected nationwide from a competitive review of kinship and grandfamily programs.
• Social Current named Wayfinder's Kinnections program its 2026 Innovative Impact Award winner.

"Kinship families step up without hesitation, often with little notice and even less support," said Jay Allen, Wayfinder's president and chief executive officer. "This summit and our recent recognition are important steps toward raising awareness and support for kinship families."

Wayfinder's Kinnections kinship navigation program provides emergency assistance, case management and support services to relatives and close family friends raising children in California.

About
Wayfinder Family Services is the place to turn for people facing the greatest challenges. It provides expert, individualized services to children, youth, adults and families through child welfare programs, disability, medical and mental health programs.

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SOURCE Wayfinder Family Services