Event: The Kinship Experience documentary film screening and discussion
Date: June 29, 2022
Time: 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Place: Essex Cinema, 21 Essex Way, Bldg. 300, Essex Junction, 05452.

New documentary The Kinship Experience, directed by filmmakers Mara Brooks and Brad Salon, examines the struggles of older Vermonters raising the children of relatives or friends. The film's producers, Vermont Kin as Parents and The Community of Vermont Elders, will hold a screening on June 29 at 6:00 pm at Essex Cinema in Essex Junction.

Kinship care, an alternative to traditional foster care, occurs when a grandparent or friend steps in to care for a child when the birth parents are unable to do so. Multiple studies have shown that children raised by a relative or other trusted adult have better long-term outcomes than those placed with strangers in foster care.

"The aim of this documentary is to be a catalyst to change the narrative of Kinship families in the United States," said Vermont Kin as Parents President Jim Holway. "We start here in Vermont."

COVE Executive Director Ruby Baker said the issue of kinship care has special relevance to the community her organization serves.
"Statistically, it's often grandparents who fill the role of kinship parent," Baker said. "And despite the joy it gives them to care for a child they already know and love, embarking on a second round of parenting later in life can be challenging."

Health issues, stamina, and lack of same-age peers are a few of the issues that can impact older kinship caregivers, Baker said.
Vermont Representative Chip Troiano called The Kinship Experience "informative" and "well done."

"This documentary speaks frankly to some of the issues that grandparents face when they take grandchildren in," Troiano said.

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