Caring for the Next Generation

With so many grandparents stepping in as full-time caregivers for their grandchildren,  local support programs are in demand. 

According to Kinship Care Ohio, there are some 86,000 grandparents acting as primary caregivers for children in Ohio alone (Source: wlwt.com).

Photo credit: amslerPIX / Foter / CC BY-NC

If you live in Ohio, there is the Kinship Permanency Incentive program (KPI) which offers support to children “in the homes of family or friends who have committed to caring for them when [their] birth parents cannot” (KPI). Sadly, a large number of grandparents raising grandchildren are unaware of the services available to them. 

Information about the program and the eligibility requirements can be found at the KPI’s website at: https://jfs.ohio.gov/ocf/kinship_care.stm 

According to an article in Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News, the KPI program has provided “$3.5 million-$4 million each year to some 7,000 children to help with the costs of caring for them.”  

In addition there are free support services such as Ohio Grandparent and Kinship Coalition which help grandparents learn about nearby services such as childcare and babysitters. 

As discussed in our last post, New York state has its own program known as the New York State Kinship Navigator.They have a great website and blog so please go check them out at: http://www.nysnavigator.org

A referral and advocacy program, NYS Kinship Navigator provides information for grandparents raising grandchildren. They even have an interactive MAP of New York State which shows you each county and what services are available in your local community. Resource links also include legal aid information and financial assistance. 

According to their website, 131,000 of the estimated 179,000 caregivers in NY State are grandparents raising grandchildren”-(Source). 

 

With over a million children in the U.S. being raised by their grandparents in the absence of their biological parents, support services are needed, be it emotional or financial.

Please Share and Comment Below! Thanks! 

Read the Original Article at: http://www.wlwt.com/news/ohio-providing-help-for-grandparents-raising-kids/28304486#ixzz3Eig3IZ8k

Grandparents’ Day Official Song

It may be hard to believe, but there is an official song for National Grandparents’ Day.

As discussed in our last post, National Grandparents Day is observed the first Sunday after Labor day.

Sadly, the holiday goes almost unnoticed every year, but why? 

“In the U.S., nearly 5.8 million children live in their grandparents’ homes and more than 2.5 million grandparents are raising their grandchildren (AARP).

Is it the lack of media attention given to multi-generational households, a.k.a. “Grand Families?”    

An important day to observe, the holiday’s purpose goes beyond trying to get grandparents and grandchildren to spend more time together. It serves to encourage “people to reach out to not just their own grandparents, but also other older adults who may be isolated or in nursing homes” (Eileen Holley). 

Hopefully we can all share the official song, “A Song for Grandma and Grandpa” to help raise awareness of this special annual holiday. 

Composed by Johnny Prill, the song was recognized as the official song in 2004 by the National Grandparents’ Day Council 

You can listen here or download the song at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Grandparents_Day 

Johnny Prill

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Grandparents: Kids Want To Talk About Money

Photo Credit: pixabay.com/en/users/sebagee

“Only 8 percent of the 1,000 grandparents surveyed say they talk with their grandchildren about money and the importance of saving for college. -(TIAA-CREF)

Growing up, did you receive savings bonds for your birthday? 

In an article in US News, Christy Warner says she did. 

Every birthday and Christmas, her grandfather gave her a $25 savings bond. These bonds and open discussion about money taught her the importance of frugality well into her adulthood.

“Only 30 percent [of grandparents] say they think they can influence their grandchildren’s money habits. But the findings also suggest that grandparents are more influential than they think. -(US News)  

AARP’s head of College Savings Solutions, Joe Stabnick said, “being able to interact and engage with grandparents, to understand their attitudes and how their spending habits have changed over their lives, it’s a great lesson” because it inspires children, teens, and young adults to think about “what kind of future they want.”   

“73 percent of grandchildren surveyed say their grandparents have an impact on their saving and spending habits. -(TIAA-CREF)

TIAA-CREF recommends grandparents talk about how they earned and saved their money. It is another way to bridge the gap between generations and serves as another form of guidance.

Considering nearly 1 in 10 children live in a household with a grandparent, more grandparents and teens should start the discussion. 

What are your thoughts on talking about money between teenagers and grandparents?

“GRAND,” The Magazine You Should Be Reading But Don’t Know About

Photo credit: CyberAndy / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA

“I became a grandmother and looked around for the magazine that would be my guide. As women, we grow up with magazines for every stage of our lives. For grandparents there was nothing. I saw opportunity!”

– Christine Crosby, CEO and founder of GRAND Media (Source)

GRAND is THE magazine dedicated to providing “grandmas and grandpas of all ages and in all stages of life both information and inspiration” (Lori Bitter).

The print & online magazine focuses on grandparent lifestyles and showcases helpful articles ranging from a variety topics such as: Tips for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, Health/Fitness, Grandparent Rights, and “Celebrity Grandparent” News. 

Featured celebrity grandparents have included famous actors, comedians, and politicians such as Julie Andrews, Bill Clinton, and Dr. Phil.

The founder and CEO, Christine Crosby, came up with the concept in 2004 and ten years later, she has achieved her goal!

A mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother herself, Crosby (now 69) recognizes how “families have changed.” Often known as the “Grand Family.”

 With 7.2 million children living in multi-generational households and 4.5 million led by a grandparent, the world of grandparenting cannot be ignored.

Have you ever read or heard of “GRAND” Magazine?

What are your thoughts?

Share and Comment below! 

Go Check Out The Magazine’s Website at: http://bit.ly/celebrity-grandparents

There’s also a GRAND Magazine Radio, GRANDinsights a research service, Grand Network (content focused sites), and the annual Grandparents America Expo.

Inspire Schools to Celebrate Grandparents!

What’s the greatest story you’ve ever heard? 

Who told you that story? 

Where did it happen? 

Photo credit: State Library and Archives of Florida / Foter 

Some of the greatest stories told and shared are from our grandparents. 

To celebrate grandparents and the elderly, schools across the country are making an effort to get students to engage with their own grandparents.

We are seeing progress within schools but more can be done.

As seen in our last post, students at Harvey Rodgers School (Glassboro, New Jersey) sang songs and read books with their grandparents to honor “National Grandparents” day. 

This week, here are some highlights of local schools across the nation taking steps to bridge the two important generations! 

Windsor Hills, Virginia:

• Back Creek Elementary School invited grandparents to lunch with their grandchildren in celebration of their own “Grandparents Week.”

[Go check the original article for the photo gallery at http://bit.ly/1pd89v1] 

Ottawa, Illinois:

• Zion Lutheran Preschool celebrated its first Grandparents Day for 4-year-olds. They worked on projects, story telling, and shared snacks. 

[Go check the original article for the photo gallery at http://bit.ly/Y7fchY] 

Help share our story and inspire more schools to celebrate their own Grandparents Day or Week!

Progress Towards National Grandparents Day

Photo credit: nitram242 / Foter / CC BY

Students at Harvey Rodgers School are taking the next step towards bringing more awareness to National Grandparents Day.

In our last post, “Do We Respect Our Grandparents,” we discussed an article that brought up the lack of attention given to grandparents. The national holiday went by quietly this month without as much as a stir.

Considering the fact nearly a million children are being raised solely by their grandparents, it’s troubling news.

However, in Glassboro, New Jersey, Harvey Rodgers School students “invited their grandparents to school” in honor of National Grandparents Day.

Students and their grandparents spent the day singing songs, reading books, and eating snacks together.

Please help share our post to inspire other schools to have their own grandparent-grandchild day!

Check out the original article at Courier-Post (http://on.cpsj.com/XVFQKl)

Do We Respect Our Grandparents?

A recent article by Eileen Holley discussed how quietly “National Grandparents Day came and went.”

Despite achieving the proclamation of the holiday, Founder Marian McQuadet’s original goals and meaning for the holiday has been sadly lost. 

As Eileen Holley said, National Grandparents Day is “a relatively unknown holiday with the purpose of encouraging people to reach out to not just their own grandparents, but also other older adults who may be isolated or in nursing homes, and they may not have contact with their family.”

Considering the fact nearly 1 in 10 children live with a grandparent, how are we not more aware of this holiday? 

Based on a survey by Bayshore HealthCare, Eileen Holley suggests there is a lack of respect towards our grandparents and elders.

The Bayshore HealthCare survey found that many millennials show signs of intolerance and impatience toward seniors, with one out of seven Canadians aged 18 to 34 saying they will honk at a senior driving too slowly and only 34 percent saying that they would go out of their way to help a senior in need.”

The millennial generation being referenced to include college students and grandchildren who are not spending time with their grandparents.  

Suprisingly, the survey also found that “69 percent believe it is their responsibility to care for elderly parents and grandparents.” 

Thus, there is hope. Parents and grandchildren should take some time to appreciate not only their grandparents but also all the elders who may be isolated and shut-in. 

Here’s our Video giving a brief introduction to “National Grandparents Day” 

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below:

Who We Are

Growing up in New York, I was raised by my grandmother. My story is a familiar one for the 7.7 million children who live with their grandparents and the 1 million of children raised by them.

My story began when I was two years old. My grandmother raised me because both my parents worked (day and night) and wanted a relative rather than a stranger care for me. For the greater part of my childhood, she was my mother. She was the one who walked me to the bus stop and the first one standing in line, waiting for me to come home. 

I was blessed to have been raised by my grandmother, and I am not alone.

Nearly 1 million children in the United States are raised by their grandparents or relatives. Often known as “Grandfamilies” or multigenerational households, the reasons range from a diversity of circumstances such as single parenthood to financial instability,  death, mental illness, substance abuse, deployment and incarceration. 

In the United States alone, one in ten children are living with a grandparent  and increasingly so with the absence of the biological parents. This has led to growing trend of grandparents, especially grandmothers, stepping in as the parent figure . . . again. 

This blog will try to raise awareness surrounding Grand Families by highlighting related news articles, resource links, and videos.

Down the line, we hope to garner enough support to create a web series  that will shed light on the often overlooked subject of Grand Families: 

• Their Struggles
• Their Triumphs,
• Our Community 

“Grand Daughters Rising” will be a platform dedicated to sharing their story and your’s.

Please feel free to share our articles and give a voice to the “Grandfamily.”

If you have any questions or would like to share your story, leave us a message under the CASTING tab.

Best,

Grand Daughters Rising

Article To Read: “At Grandmother’s House We Stay”

Pew Research Website featured an incredibly insightful article and data on grandparents raising grandchildren.

On this blog, we have discussed the various stories of real grandparents raising their children in the absence of the biological parents. Below is a pie chart depicting the number of children living with “grandmother” is also living with a parent. A familiar case is Lorraine Hutter who we talked about in one of our previous posts (click > for more) HERE.  

If you are a grandmother, a parent, or grandchild, please share some of your thoughts on the statistics the Pew Research website has shared.

Grandparenting To The Next Level

Photo credit: Uriel 1998 / Foter / CC BY

Family challenges exist in all shapes and forms. For grandparents raising grandchildren in the absence of the biological parents, there is one particular challenge. 

AARP has a great section dedicated to “GrandFamilies” and grandparents raising their grandchildren. One of the first family challenges questions posed was:

My grandchildren get upset by their parents coming in and out of their lives. What should I do?  (source: AARP)

As noted in our previous posts, Reasons for the parents’ absence vary from:  death, illness, substance abuse, military deployment or jail time. 

According to AARP’s website, some of their suggestions include: 

• Seeking help from a third-party such a trained mediator or trained counselor. Even a  close family friend who can help and be objective in opening up the discussion and coordinating visits with the parents. 
• Go and request the court (for custody or guardianship) to set up a weekly/daily or regular schedule. 
• A standard and consistent schedule would be best when it comes to visits. “Even if it is rocky at times,” they state “it’s helpful for the children to have an ongoing relationship with their parent.” 

Please Go Check Out AARP’s Section Dedicated To “Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren” (< click to be linked to AARP’s Webpage).

What Are Your Thoughts and Answers to The Family Challenge Question Above? 

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