Raising Grandparents Essay

“For Many in the U.S, Grandparents are a Family Safety Net.” reads an August 2011 headline published by the Press Herald. This has proven true over and over again as grandparents are often considered the “glue “that holds the family together. These patriarch/matriarchs (regardless of age) offer priceless advice, leadership, and comfort in crisis situations. Their life experience, witt, and wisdom make for essential elements of the family unit. These individuals wear a variety of hats. In many situations, grandparents are forced; not by law but by affection and personal moral to take on the role as the primary caretaker of the child. This can be referred to as “kindship care “, a term describing the raising of an adolescent by close

In contrast, the responsibility of rearing children for the second time can exude a great deal of pressure on the individual; both emotionally and financially. The average grandparent raising grandchildren is around 59 years of age, according to Donald Kausler and Barry C.Kausler’s “The Graying of America” (Kausler, Kausler, 2001, pg. 197).This is a key fact because at that age, the majority of American citizens anticipate and is benefits. Raising grandchildren undoubtedly puts a strain on this prospect. In these instances, the grandparent must reach into their retirement savings in an effort to successfully supply the needs of their new dependents; their grandchildren. A sad fact is that kinship care families generally do not receive the same level of government assistance that foster families do. Unfortunately, many of these individuals lack useful and vital information regarding the programs and services that are available to them as primary

In Georgia, for instance, it was reported by the census that 170,454 grandchildren live with their grandparent(s). The House Study Committee on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren and Kinship Care was created by House Resolution 474 during the 2015 Georgia General Assembly. This Resolution “acknowledges that there are issues facing grandparents and other family members as primary caregivers and guardians, including access to services, financial support, and making medical and academic decisions for children in their care. The committee has been tasked with studying these issues, as well as the administration and effectiveness of state funded programs designed to assist those providing kindship care, and making recommendations to further enhance the provided services and ensure that issues facing grandparents and other family members are considered and addressed(House of Representatives Study Committee on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren and Kindship Care,2015,Introduction).The Georgia House of Representatives ran a survey on the matter in 2015. The study found that 5.5 to 6.5 percent of children under the age of 18 lived under the care of their grandparents in Chatham County. It was also concluded that the poverty rate of kindship care households was 25 percent higher than the overall U.S poverty rate; concluding that these children raised in grandparent reared