Kinship care professionals, advocates, and providers from across New York State gathered in Albany to celebrate Kinship Care Month, honoring the vital role relatives and family friends play in raising children when parents are unable to do so.
“During Kinship Care Month, we celebrate the treasured natural resource of kinship caregivers statewide and highlight the important contributions they make in supporting and raising children, along with the advocates who fight so fiercely for them,” said Rae Glaser, Director of the NYS Kinship Navigator, an information, referral, and advocacy program for kinship caregivers.
Kinship care includes non-parent relatives—grandparents, aunts, uncles, adult siblings—or close family friends who step in to care for children. In New York, approximately 195,000 children live with relatives or family friends who are their primary caregivers.
The celebration featured remarks from Dr. DaMia Harris-Madden, Commissioner of the NYS Office of Children and Family Services, and the presentation of the 2025 CURA Awards, recognizing outstanding achievements in kinship caregiving. The award recipients were:
- Kinship Champion – Pat O’Brien, Adoption and Foster Family Coalition of NY (AFFCNY)
- Kinship Professional – Danielle Kielar, Catholic Charities of Buffalo
- Kinship Caregivers – Antoinette Sumter Cotman (Kings), Della Smith (Kings), Ebony Smith (Monroe), Judith Irby (Bronx), Kati Jones (Montgomery), Mery Lopez (New York), Michelle Sullivan (Jefferson), Sandra Jenkins (Queens), Sharon Gray (Ulster), Vernetta Davis (Albany)
“We’re so pleased to be able to highlight the important contributions kinship caregivers make in supporting and raising children,” said Glaser. “Each of the honorees is helping to raise stronger kids and build a better future for all of us in New York.”
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