Family walking down a dirt road holding hands.

Montana Kinship Navigator Program (MKNP)

The Montana Kinship Navigator Program (MKNP) was founded in 2002, with the intention of giving caregivers support, education, and access to reasources in rising their children. In the US more than 2.7 million children are being raised by grandparents, relatives, or non-related family friends (these caregivers are reffered to as 'Kin Family' or a family that has taken a child in that is not biologically their own). MKNP aims to equipt kin families with the tools they need to raise children and prepare them for adult life. 

Montana Kinship Program offers legal, financial, educational, health, and parenting resources for those looking for more information. 

Mental Health in Adults and Youth

A large focus in Family and Human Development is not only our physical health but also our mental health. Mental health directly corrolates with our ability to handle stress, interact with others, make healthy choices, and our overall quality of life. Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the United States has a mental illness (NAMI, 2019), and by the World Health Organization's approximation, half of all people in the US will experience mental illness at some point in their lives. Montana State University Extension recongnizes that mental health plays a vital role in community vitality which is why unbiased, research-based education is so important. 

MSU Extension offers multiple programs and resources surrounding mental health. Below listed are more information on such programs. 

Parenting

Parenting is always full of new challenges but is one of the most rewarding experiences. MSU Extension offers multiple online courses and video courses to offer some guidance; these classes are listed below. 

Online Courses:

Video Courses:

Healthy Aging

MSU Extension offers programs that are designed to help adults maintain overall health and wellness in the later years of their lives. These programs are centered around five key componants to promote healthy lives for Montanans. 

  1. Healthy Caregiving
  2. Aging in Place
  3. Healthy Transitions
  4. Healthy Living
  5. Living well with Dementia

Opioid Use Disorder

Opioid & Stimulant Educational Resources

Opioid Misuse Hotline
(800) 662-4357

*The programs for the MSU Extension Service are available to all people regardless of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. Issued in the futherance of cooperation extension work in agriculture and home economics, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cody Stone, Director of Extension, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717*