Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

This paper reports the findings of what needs and pressing issues exist for community members of Rome-Floyd County as well as what services exist and are needed to help with these concerns, based on the perspectives of grandparents who are raising grandchildren (focus group) in the community. This research was part of a larger community assessment project which includes multiple focus groups in the hopes of representing the entire community. Primary areas of concern for participants of this grandparents-raising-grandchildren focus group are: poor leadership that is not representative of the community members’ interests; bad economy (particularly lack of jobs and unfairness of job application); inadequate recreational opportunities for children; and inconsistent and unfair implementation of federal policies in the school systems.  There was also an agreement for the need for community members to “come together.”  A few helpful services in the community were identified by participants, but there was a general vagueness in responses leading to the inference that there is either few helpful services or a lack of awareness of them.  There were also several contradictions in responses of participants in regards to what is best about living in Rome-Floyd County and what needs changed. Most of the discussion focused on problems in the community rather than the offering of solutions.

Background: Raising children who belong to homes of low resources is an area of low priority for parents due to lack of time and resources; frequently the mother is in charge of this and the father’s image is often lacking. This subject has not been explored in the region.
Objectives: Describing the attitudes, beliefs and practices about raising children in a group of low resource heading of the household mothers in Popayan.
Methods: A qualitative study was conducted at Fundacion Infancia Colombiana, a teaching and home substitute institution for young children of heading of household mothers. Ten mothers, selected by convenience, participated in depth interviews which lasted between 45 and 60 minutes. Audio records were transcribed and the information analyzed using one qualitative software package (Winmax98).
Results: Three areas were determined which allowed: 1) to determine the women’s attitudes before becoming mothers and family influences on raising of their own children; 2) to establish the beliefs and practices of the mothers for their children’s behaviour; and 3) to know the mothers’ expectations on this subject.
Conclusions: The study allowed identifying the weaknesses present in a group of families of head of household mothers regarding the raising of their children. The attitudes and practices originating on their own homes are not supportive of their role as mothers. The harsh social environment in which mothers were raised represent a limiting factor on their own role as mothers. Nevertheless, their expectations about increasing their knowledge about providing care for children open a field for a possible intervention.

Key words: child rearing, qualitative studies, deep surveys, Colombia."

Recent changes in kinship care policy produce a range of care-types for grandparents raising their grandchildren, from informal kinship care to adoption. The unprecedented formalization of kinship care, expedited termination of parental rights, and conflict between parents and grandparents over the best interests of children require custodial grandparents to make determinations about care-type, termed “institutional decision making.” Interview data collected from 50 black custodial grandmothers from Chicago are used to reveal how and why parental responses help explain variation in care-types. This article argues that institutional decisions enable custodial grandmothers to achieve family stability by offering them an opportunity to be a safety net of protection to grandchildren, to respond to a range of parental responses that emerge as they work to eradicate child welfare threats, and to navigate institutions. The present study shows that, as parental responses increase in uncertainty and noncompliance, care-types become more formalized.

A huge housing complex called Mamutica (mammoth building) is the landmark of Travno, an urban settlement in the Croatian capital's south­ ern district of New Zagreb. With its eighteen-story fai;:ade extending four hundred meters on two parallel blocks, Mamutica houses some 4,500 inhabitants. Some claim it is the largest apartment complex in the for­ mer Yugoslavia; whether or not this is accurate, it is perhaps the plainest physical representation of the socialist idea to transform peasants into workers, and a clear example of the former regime's efforts to address housing shortages. The regime planned ambitiously, and housing con­ struction like Mamutica gave brick and mortar form to its agenda of ur­ banization and industrialization and the concomitant goal of promoting new values for a modern socialist family. 1 Work on Mamutica began in 1973 and concluded in 1976; its completion marked part of a larger ur­ ban planning project that included the creation of ten settlements on an open field in Zagreb, across the River Sava, to house a rapidly increasing population of industrial workers. 2 In the year 2005-6 Travno was the site of a nine-month social anthro­ pology fieldwork project that we conducted within the framework of an European Union study on kinship and social security. 3 We focused on family and neighborhood networks that provide social security in every­ day life-for example, arrangements that provide instrumental support, emotional security, and financial assistance. This project examines ways these care networks are embedded in the communal Travno settlement itself; ways these networks transform anonymous, urban space into an intimate, localized sense of place; and how people made use of their net

Although there are more grandparents raising grandchildren than at any
other time in American history, the experiences of those caring for children
with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) has received
scant attention. Even less is known about the health challenges and solutions
characterizing these families. This chapter uses data collected from
45 grandparents raising grandchildren with IDD in the greater Atlanta
metropolitan area to examine their caregiving experiences, with particular
attention given to the health of both caregivers and children, and the obstacles
and strategies associated with meeting their health needs. Community
based organizations such as Innovative Solutions for Disadvantage and
Disability and related programs (e.g., Project GRANDD or Grandparents
Raising and Nurturing Dependents with Disabilities) play a critical role to
this vulnerable population of caregivers charged with strategizing to
ensure the well- being of their families.

In contemporary rural China, most grandparents expect to care for their grandchildren while adult children migrate to urban centers, forming new norms of collaborative care. Based on ethnographic data gathered from an agricultural village in Henan province, this chapter explores the emotional and moral context of intergenerational contributions of care. I explore how three families affected by migration use concepts of suffering and family harmony to make sense of their kinship commitments. I argue that narratives about suffering allow grandparents to highlight their affective contributions to the family, which allows grandparents to construct their experiences as morally virtuous and socially productive.

The current study was an inquiry into perceptions and attitudes of 7 to 11 year-old school-age children toward older persons and aging. The characteristic of these children is that they were raised by their grandparents and lived in the same household for more than a year with their current family members. Changing demographic patterns and circumstances leading to this living situation in the modern American society has inspired the researcher to investigate the views of children who lived with older generation(s). Phenomenological and qualitative research methods were employed to study the perceptions and attitudes of children toward older persons and aging. Methodology included children creating 2 drawings, their narrations about the drawings, a sentence completion activity, and an informal conversation with the researcher. Contrary to the stereotypical views, the results of this study showed mostly positive perceptions and attitudes toward older persons and very unique perspectives about aging.

This article presents findings from an evaluation conducted in 2012, of the advice and advocacy service provided by the charity Family Rights Group for families involved with children's services. It specifically focuses on the experiences of grandparents and explores accounts from grandparents who were either in the process of seeking care of their grandchildren, or were already caring for grandchildren but without formal support or recognition. The findings suggest that there is a need to pay greater attention to the fears of such grandparents about children's services in a context where there appears to be a policy preference for adoption. Also evident is a paradox at the heart of contemporary social work practices towards grandparents. While some felt dismissed and marginalized very quickly by social workers and imaginative approaches to care possibilities did not appear to be pursued, others were carrying enormous burdens of care often for very long periods of time without either financial support or legal recognition. To strengthen the care options for children and respect the ethic of care that is clearly to be observed operating in grandparenting practices, it is suggested that a more thorough interrogation of the multiple and often highly contradictory meanings attached to family is required on the part of social workers.

Kinship carers are relatives or friends raising a child, often as an alternative to going into care. Despite children’s previous adversities and carers’ poverty and ill-health, outcomes for these children are generally better than if they had gone into local authority care.
After two very poor Ofsted inspections, Leeds City Council introduced a new policy approach, based on Unicef’s Child Friendly City model, and using a restorative practice approach to social work. One aim of this new approach was to reduce the number of children in council care by making greater use of kinship care for children unable to remain with their parents. This qualitative study researches the perceived impact of this new approach, using individual and group interviews with Leeds’ policy-makers, practitioners and kinship carers to compare perceptions of impact. The study finds that while kinship carers remain discontent with the level of support they receive, they understand the limitations of what can be provided, and appreciate the change of policy which enabled the children to be placed with them instead of going into care. Following a reduction in the numbers of looked after children and an improved Ofsted inspection, the perception of decision-makers and practitioners is that there are fewer complaints from kinship carers and fewer placement breakdowns, providing some evidence that enough support is provided to ensure the sustainability of kinship placements, even although carers feel they are struggling.

We used community-based participatory research with four tiers of governance and grounded theory methods to examine the lives of Alaska Native grandparents rearing grandchildren in a rural community. We explored the reasons Native grandparents reared or are rearing their grandchildren, challenges rearing grandchildren, and the joys of grandparenthood. We used their words to broaden the grandparenting research by focusing solely on Native People living in a rural, arctic climate. Culture, values, and traditions explain the unique reasons grandparents cared for their grandchildren; values and common concerns of all grandparents describe the challenges of grandparenthood; pride and joy, the value of love, and traditional ways of living made clear the joys of Alaska Native grandparents rearing their grandchildren. After the discussion, we offer considerations for future research.

Using qualitative data collected from fifty-eight African American grandmothers raising grandchildren in skipped-generation households (SGHs), I reveal how and why women in non-normative families, lacking legal protections and publicly recognized authority as parents, must negotiate risk in pursuit of resources. I demonstrate that these grandmothers struggle for economic survival while seeking simultaneously to minimize the risk of losing their grandchildren and maximize their chances of receiving public assistance. I argue that grandmothers in SGHs face significant challenges obtaining government benefits owing to policy eligibility guidelines, street-level implementation, and family dynamics. Ultimately, I illustrate how the severe deprivation experienced by these grandmothers is exacerbated by their exclusion from safety net programs that could help them support the children in their care.

In Families Redefined, the authors recognize that numerous families extant today include those founded on kinship relationships. Kinship relationships are non-conjugal consensual adult relationship based on emotional and economic interdependence. Similar to marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships, these relationships deserve and require legal protections and benefits to sustain them.This article examines 1) the nature of kinship families, 2) the benefits accorded to married couples, 3) kinship families that lack protection and benefits, 4) the impact of denying kinship protection and benefits, 5) the use of contract law in kinship relationship and 6) using legislation to benefit kinship relationships. The article advocates for the expansion of legal concepts of family to include kinship relationships by comparing the treatment of these issues in various states and nations. In this manner, the authors support a new definition of family that goes beyond conjugal arrangements.

Qualidade de vida do idoso e a existência de netos: estudo comparativo no distrito de Lisboa Quality of life in the elderly and the existence of grandchildren: a comparative study in the Lisbon district Calidad de vida en las personas mayores y la existencia de los nietos: un estudio comparativo en el distrito de Lisboa Inês Fernandes Eduardo Duque RESUMO: "Ser avô" é um acontecimento marcante, apesar de ser cada vez mais raro. Os netos são uma fonte de estimulação para os avós, contribuindo para a luta contra o declínio do envelhecimento e proporcionando-lhes uma melhor qualidade de vida. Os resultados evidenciam que as relações sociais são importantes para o idoso poder usufruir de qualidade de vida, mas será que os netos fazem a diferença quando falamos da qualidade de vida dos avós? Palavras-chave: Qualidade de vida; Avós; Netos; Idosos. ABSTRACT: "Be grandparent" It is a remarkable event, even though it is less common in these days. The grandchildren are a source of stimulation to the seniors, contributing against the aging and providing them a better quality of life. The results show that social relations are important for the elderly can enjoy quality of life, but will the grandchildren make the difference when we refer to life quality of the grandparents?

This project is a tribute to Tom R. Chambers' grandmother, Mattie Oline (Battles) Meekins, 1899-1997. She kept a diary from 1948 through part of 1993. Chambers researched her entries over the years, and chose the ones that have significance for him and society. His grandmother rarely missed making a daily entry in her diary during 45-plus years - an astonishing 16,000-plus entries. Chambers was born in July of 1947, so her diaries were ongoing from when he was about six-months old through the age of 45. The entries are practical, heartfelt and country-bred.