Outreach Programs

Kinship Care CA

Kinship families are part of all communities across California and kinship caregivers provide essential care and nurturing for their kinship children. Kinship families offer a tremendous opportunity for vulnerable children and youth to join a part of their extended family when their immediate family cannot care for them. United Ways of California’s new KinshipCareCA.org is a free, one-stop navigator to meet the immediate needs of kinship caregivers and foster parents, helping you locate nearby resources, access benefits, and/or receive general support via its online search feature and dedicated team of highly trained call specialists. The website is aimed to increase your capacity to provide safe, stable, and nurturing homes for the children in your care. 

Kinship caregivers open their hearts and homes to a relative’s child. Approximately half of California’s 59,156 foster children are living with extended family members or other relatives. Studies have shown that kinship foster care can lead to better emotional health, fewer placements, and better outcomes. Offering these tools and kinds of support makes for stronger families all-around.

KinshipCareCA.org includes location-based resources for respite care, childcare, healthcare, education, and many other developmental and quality of life assets. Additionally, it provides access to resources supporting stability and the fulfillment of basic needs, such as utility, housing, and food assistance.

Listos California

Listos California is an initiative from Governor Newsom’s office to ensure that California’s most vulnerable populations are as prepared as possible to deal with the possibility of disasters like fire, flood, earthquake, and (as we’ve learned recently) pandemics like COVID-19.

Within a year, the campaign has already reached one in four Californians with life-saving messaging on COVID-19. Over 600,000 Californians now have “person-to-person” contact on accessible disaster preparedness information. 

Disaster Preparedness is now as easy as a text message. California residents can sign up to learn how to get prepared for natural disasters by texting LISTOSCA to 72345. Preparedness information and resources are even available in multiple indigenous languages by texting VOX to 211211.

To learn more, visit listoscalifornia.org.