Support For Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
By Veronica Scott
When relatives such as grandparents raise children, it could be due to a parent's death, military duty or criminal behavior. Some children require a change from drug fueled, abusive homes or parents who are in jail or mentally ill. Grandparents are often looking forward to their sunset years, and may not be prepared for the financial, emotional, or mental strain this puts on the, and they may become overwhelmed. There are State Fact Sheets that correlate data for the use of grandparents or kinship care givers, which contains updated information on services, resources, and programs open to them, state policies for foster care, benefit programs that are critical to the public, State laws that affect them, and helpful National and State organizations that may be helpful. The updates on these fact sheets occurs once a year, with twelve to thirteen approximate states fully updating each quarter of the year.
