Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County
Relatives as Parents Program (RAPP)

232 Plaza Road
Kingston, NY 12401
Program Contact: Karri Paul
Phone: (845) 616-9350
Fax: (845) 340-3993
Email: kp376@cornell.edu
Website: http://ulster.cce.cornell.edu/healthy-communities

Counties Served:  Ulster

Relatives as Parents Program (RAPP) supports people raising children when parents are unavailable to parent. Caregivers can be grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings or friends of the family who have stepped up to raise their relative children. Our mission is to provide education, support and information for caregivers, and to connect them with people and organizations which will be most useful to them. We strive to promote familial bonding.

Services Include:

• Family Meals. Hosted on Fridays, 1x per month. We provide a healthy meal, time to socialize with other families and family activities, such as crafts and games.
• Support Group for Caregivers.
• Kingston: Tuesdays, 2x per month.
• Youth/4-H Group for children 5-11yrs. Hosted on Mondays, 1x per month.
• Teen Group for youth 12-19 yrs. Hosted on Wednesdays, 1x per month.
• Community Trips (such as picnics, plays, roller skating, bowling, zoos, museums, etc.) for caregivers and children together. Hosted 1x per month.
• Trainings and Workshops throughout the year for caregivers related to parenting, nutrition, financial planning, stress management and much more.
• Referral Services for caregivers and other service agencies.

Please note: Some RAPP programming listed below has been modified and moved on-line. Please contact Karri Paul at kp376@cornell.edu to learn more.

The Ulster County RAPP program has a variety of opportunities to meet a multitude of needs. In addition to trainings and educational workshops for caregivers related to parenting, nutrition and resource management, time together as a family is honored with monthly Family Nights and Community Outings where group members have the opportunity to come together, have fun, and socialize with other members who can relate to the joys and challenges of being a kinship family.

Additionally, there are individualized programs to support families such as Support Groups for caregivers, Teen Nights for youth ages 12-19 and a 4-H Youth Group for children ages 5-11 years. All of these get-togethers are geared towards making connections, sharing experiences and building relationships.