Grandparents and Other Relatives Face Challenges Raising Children
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2003-10-09 00:00:00-04:00
The 2000 Census found that 4.5 million children lived in grandparent-headed households, up from 3.5 million in 1999. About 2.4 million grandparents provide primary support for their grandchildren. In Tennessee, over 126,000 grandchildren live with grandparents or relatives. Over 61,000 grandparents report that they are primarily responsible for the needs of grandchildren living with them.
This year, AARP Tennessee conducted a survey of our members who are grandparents or other relatives raising children. Results show that AARP is a major resource for information on available services.
Based on these findings, AARP Tennessee is working to connect local caregivers with resources. We are hosting a series of conferences around the state for "Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: Resources for Relative Caregivers." The goal is to provide grandparents and other relatives raising children information and referrals about legal rights, services and other resources, and to examine issues confronting relative caregivers, including solutions to address these problems locally. Please check our Announcement Board for more information.
Currently, public and private agencies and grassroots coalitions of grandparents and other relative caregivers are working to expand the services available to "kinship caregivers." Three sites in Tennessee for the Relative Caregiver Program provide some of these services, and we hope to expand these programs statewide.
In 2003, the Tennessee General Assembly passed the Power of Attorney for Care of a Minor Child Act, which provides a simple and inexpensive way for primary caregivers to obtain authority to provide health and educational needs for their wards.
Related Articles
- AARP Sponsors Grandparenting Summit
Other Resources
- Tennessee Grandparenting Issues: A Survey of AARP Members
This survey of AARP members shows it is important for AARP to provide information on resources and services for people raising grandchildren and kin's children. - Family and Children's Services in Nashville, TN
Family and Children's Services continues to address societal, individual and family needs through an innovative range of counseling, adoption, education and prevention services for diverse populations within our communities. A description of the Relative Caregiver Program is on the Web site. - Upper Cumberland Development District (Tennessee) Relative Caregiver Program
The Relative Caregiver Program is a comprehensive public/private collaboration designed to support children who are inable to be raised by their parents and whose grandparents, uncles, aunts and other extended family members are caring for them. - Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Children-Tennessee
This is a kinship care fact sheet from the Casey Foundation, containing resources and programs available in Tennessee for grandparents and other relatives raising children.
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