More grandparents raising their grandchildren,
2/16/16, Nation.
CHICAGO — When Debra Aldridge became her
grandson’s primary caregiver, she was making $7.50 per hour as a cook. The
alternative for the newborn, she was told, was to put him up for adoption. “I
took one look at the little fella, and that was it,” said Aldridge, now 62. “I
couldn’t let go.” For more than 11 years, Aldridge, who is
divorced and lives in Chicago, has struggled to feed, house and clothe her
“baby,” Mario. As she ages, Aldridge sinks deeper into poverty.
Nationwide, 2.7 million grandparents are
raising grandchildren, and about one-fifth of those have incomes that fall
below the poverty line, according to census figures.
Their ranks are increasing. The number
of grandparents raising grandchildren is up 7 percent from 2009. Experts say
the trend is likely to continue as the nation responds to the
opiate epidemic. Military deployment and a growth in the number of women
incarcerated are other factors forcing grandparents to step into parental
roles.
Already, child welfare agencies are
reporting an increase in the number of children, especially infants, taken from
parents battling drug addictions and mental health issues. After years of declines,
children in foster care rose by nearly 1 percent in 2013 and by 3.5 percent in
2014 to more than 415,000.
The increase comes as states are placing
more foster children with relatives in response to research showing that
children fare better with family rather than in foster care.
There is an economic incentive, too.
Generations United, a nonprofit that advocates for “kinship families,” says
taxpayers would see significant savings by keeping children out of foster care
and placing them with relatives.
But at the same time, the group says
there is no comprehensive framework to keep these kinship families stable.
Crucial programs, such as legal services and support groups, “exist only in
small pockets of the country,” it said.
Those support services are something
many grandparents raising grandchildren need.
Many are living on fixed incomes and
managing chronic illnesses. About a quarter of grandparents raising
grandchildren have a disability. “People who step forward, step forward because
there is a crisis in their family and apparently don’t take into account their own limitations,” said Esme Fuller-Thomson, a
professor of social work at the University of Toronto, who has researched
grandparent caregiving in the United States.
Maria Nanos, executive director of the
Center for Law and Social Work in Chicago, said that when the state is
involved, grandparents receive free legal help from the center, but informal
caregivers navigate guardianship on their own. The center usually receives
funds from the state’s Department of Aging to help those grandparents. But
Illinois has operated without a budget since July, so the center has not
received the money this fiscal year. “We have to turn people down,” Nanos said.
Some states offer financial aid for
informal kinship families. In Georgia, grandparents older than 55
can get a $100 monthly subsidy per grandchild. They also have access to grants
and could qualify for subsidies similar to those of foster parents (between
$14.60 and $18.80 per day). But access to the assistance, which is often housed
in different agencies, can be tricky, if not impossible. To help relatives
navigate the complex web of services, some states have created kinship
navigators.
Lynn Urvina, is one of about a dozen
kinship navigators in Washington state. She said grandparents call her seeking
information about support groups, obtaining guardianship and financial help to
pay bills. Every year, her case files grow. “In our area, methamphetamines have
had a huge impact,” said Urvina, who is raising, along with her husband, a
12-year-old granddaughter.
Navigators in Washington serve 30 of 39
counties, with multiple counties overseen by one person. Some counties include
rural communities where grandparents have little access to services, Urvina
said. “If all grandparents walked away and
say, ‘we can’t do it,’ there would be no homes for these kids,” Urvina said.
To boost assistance to kinship families,
Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., are working on a bipartisan
bill that would reimburse states for a portion of money spent on such services as substance
abuse prevention and kinship navigators.
As her grandson enters his teens,
Aldridge, the Chicago grandmother, said she knows she’ll need more resources to
clothe, feed and keep him out of trouble. To help make ends meet, she stands in
food lines, taking two buses to reach the food depository. But she won’t give
up on Mario. “He needs me,” Aldridge said. Alejandra Cancino is studying health care and long-term care
issues as part of a 10-month fellowship at the AP-NORC Center for Public
Affairs Research, which joins NORC’s independent research and AP journalism.
The fellowship is funded by The SCAN Foundation.
Comments
This article exposes
the extent to which socialism is being imposed through family law. The reason
for the increase in homeless families is the dangerous, toxic laws that can
backfire on “helpful grandparents”. If a grandmother slaps her drug addicted
adult child, the grandmother is arrested for assault according to current
domestic violence laws. The drug addicted child has the legal status of a
“resident” and that entitles them to remain in the grandparents’ home and do
any amount of damage they like without being arrested for “vandalism” of
property they don’t own. The grandparents need to issue an “eviction notice”
that allows the drug-addicted child to remain in the home for 30 days. If the
drug-addicted child leaves their grandparents’ home voluntarily and is allowed
to return to the house, they regain “resident” status and must be evicted.
Grandparents are “required” to allow their drug-addicted child to become
“homeless”.
The grandparents have
lost their property rights. They are no longer allowed to banish their
drug-addicted children. Other socialist laws have been added to discourage home
ownership. A city land use plan can require homeowners to allow the city to
build multi-use paths through their property, so the city can achieve
“connectivity”.
The property easements
on homes is often excessive and home buyers need to take a hard look at the
plat before they buy the home. Cities do
not pay homeowners for the easements if the city seizes the homeowner’s
property.
Rural counties offer
property tax discounts to farmers if they sign a Conservation Easement
agreement, but the county then gains control over the property and can restrict
the property owner from using the property to make a living. Farmers may not be
allowed to set up roadside markets on their property. Farmers may also be
restricted in all other activities on their property.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
No comments:
Post a Comment