Arizona Kith & Kin Project

Kith & Kin participants often include grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, and other friends. The Project offers kith and kin providers a 14-week program of weekly small group support-training sessions. The groups are facilitated in both English and Spanish; however, Spanish is the predominant language.

Topics covered during the weekly meetings include: guidance and discipline, daily schedule planning, nutrition, parent/caregiver relationships and business practices, language and literacy, and brain development. The program:

• provides early childhood training and support to kith and kin child care providers
• increases participants’ knowledge of the elements of quality child care
• increases participants’ understanding of ways to challenge and stimulate young children
• increases participants’ knowledge of childhood injury prevention and distributes safety materials and equipment ASCC partners with more than 60 community organizations, including Head Start programs, resource centers, faith-based organizations, and schools to recruit participants and deliver services.

A 4-year evaluation of the program completed in 2016 found that FFN providers demonstrated increases on the following key quality indicators after completing the program:

• health and safety (environment and practices)
• materials
• provider-child communication patterns
• provider-child engagement
• provider sensitivity
• engagement in learning activities
• providers’ basic knowledge about child development.

The project is funded by the First Things First and the Valley of the Sun United Way.

Updated August 2017.