Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina continues to support HALOS kinship care program

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Tags: Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina , Foundations

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The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina, in partnership with The Duke Endowment, enters into a second year of funding to continue supporting Helping and Lending Outreach Support (HALOS) in its work to improve outcomes for children in the foundation’s Kinship Care program.

The first of its kind in South Carolina, HALOS serves families who are providing a home to child relatives (kinship care) so that foster care placement is not required. The overall goal of the HALOS Kinship Care program is to support relatives or other adults by empowering and strengthening caregivers to be advocates for themselves in order to improve outcomes of the children in their care so that families can stay together.

Funds provided by the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina will be used to support a HALOS success coach, volunteer coordinator, education/training, emergency funds for kinship families and advocacy. This is the second disbursement of funds toward a total grant award over three years funded jointly by The Duke Endowment and the foundation of $1,017,014. HALOS will be eligible for one subsequent additional year of funding contingent upon successful completion of current funding goals.

Kim Clifton, executive director of HALOS, said, “The continued support of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina and The Duke Endowment allows us to continue on our path of service to kinship families.”

HALOS initially came to the attention of the foundation in 2005 when Clifton received a $1,500 Caritas grant to provide back-to-school supplies for abused and neglected children in foster care. HALOS later received a two-year Responsive Grant to fund its Kinship Care Resource and Support Program. Over the years, HALOS has received more than $270,000 in grants from the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina.

An outgrowth of a foundation listening session held with HALOS kinship caregivers in 2012 and further research on the needs of children in kinship families, the foundation launched a Kinship Care Initiative in 2014. In addition to grantmaking, the foundation facilitates the convening of a Statewide Kinship Care Advisory Council to examine ways to better serve kinship families, within and outside the child welfare system, through improved practice and policy.

Continued funding of HALOS aligns with the goals of the Kinship Care Initiative. “HALOS is serving as a model for kinship programs that we hope could be eventually be replicated,” said Tom Keith, president, Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina.

The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina is a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System.