When grandparents or other relatives (often called kinship caregivers) raise children, it is for various reasons. It may be because there was the death of a parent or a parent is away in the military; this is happening more than we like right now with devastating effects. It may simply be because a child was having problems with his/her social environment and needed a change, but more often than not, there is a correlation between alcohol and drug abuse and neglect on the part of the parents. The parent/s may be mentally ill, incarcerated, or simply and unfortunately incapable of caring for their children.

According to the U.S. 2000 Census, there were close to 2 1/2 million households with grandparents raising their grandchildren. No doubt, that number has increased substantially in the past seven years.  Plus, the figure does not even count other relative caregivers such as people raising their brother or sister's children or, even yet, raising their niece or nephew's children. Fifty-seven percent of grandparents raising their grandchildren are still in the work force and 17% are living in poverty.

As grandparents or other relative  (kinship) caregivers, we may have had no mental, emotional, or financial preparation when we began raising these children. It can be more than overwhelming. Everything, from needing diapers and formula, an appropriate car seat for the toddler, to dealing with a drug-addicted teenager, may need to be immediately addressed.

This website is designed to help guide grandparents and other relatives (kinship caregivers) in their efforts to raise and educate these children and to find needed resources for the children as well as themselves.