By Sue Schneider, Larimer County Extension
More grandparents
are raising their grandchildren than ever before. In Larimer County,
approximately 3 to 5% of children under the age of 18 live in grandparent
headed homes[i].
In most cases, biological parents are unable to provide care because of death,
physical or mental illness, incarceration, drug use, child abuse or neglect,
deployment and other economic reasons[ii]. Often
grandparents assume caregiving responsibilities on a moment’s notice. These
situations place significant stress on grandparents and may exacerbate chronic
illness, depression, and financial hardship.
Larimer County
has long been active in building supports for grandparents raising their
grandchildren. In 2007, the Larimer County Alliance for Grandfamilies was
formed. This group still meets monthly to support grandfamily programs
and services in our county. Additionally, the Grand Family Coalition is a network
of grandparents and other kin raising kin that offers community activities,
educational support, support groups, youth mentor programs, and a peer to peer
support program. Most recently, the GRANDcares program was initiated with
funding from the USDA/NIFA Children Youth and Families At-Risk (CYFAR) grant
mechanism to CSU and Extension. GRANDcares supports grandfamilies through a
6-week educational class called Powerful Tools for Caregivers – Grandfamilies.
The class focuses on self-care and helping grandparents manage the stress of
raising their grandchildren.
GRANDcares is currently inviting grandfamilies to register
for the upcoming Powerful Tools for Caregivers – Grandfamilies class. The kick-off
and welcome session will be held on Friday January 20 from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
at SummitStone Health Partners (114 Bristlecone Dr., Fort Collins). Subsequent
classes will take place from January 27 to March 3 from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm.
This program is free to attend and childcare may be provided. For more information
or to register, please contact Jana Carson at 970-491-8204 or by email at Jana.Carson@colostate.edu. If you are
interested but cannot attend the January session, please reach out to Jana to
inquire about the upcoming March –May, 2017 program (specific dates TBA).
Grandfamilies often do not know where to start seeking
resources or whom to reach out to when they are struggling. We need your help
to change this fact. No grandfamily should struggle in isolation. Please share this
information on the GRANDcares program as well as the resources below with your co-workers,
neighbors, and friends:
·
The Grand Family Coalition (www.grandfamilycoalition.com) is a non-profit
organization that supports Kinship Families by providing social groups, day
time support groups, mentor programs, and family oriented activities. Call
Gail Engel at 970-699-2837 or email gail@grandfamilycoalition.org
for more information.
·
Colorado
State University’s Grandparents Raising Grandchildren website (grg.colostate.edu/index.php) provides useful
resources and reliable, current information on health, education, legal, and
parenting resources for grandparents that have taken on the role as primary
caregiver for their grandchildren. Contact Christine Fruhauf, Department of
Human Development and Family Studies, at (970) 491-1118 or Christine.Fruhauf@ColoState.edu for additional resources.
·
To
get involved, join the Larimer County Alliance for Grandfamilies. The LCAG meets
on the second Wednesdays of each month from 9:00 – 11:00 am at SummitStone
Health Partners, 125 Crestridge St., Fort Collins. Call Gail Engel at
970-699-2837 for more information.
[i] Compass of Larimer
County (2016). Grandparents as caregivers. Fort Collins, CO: Larimer
County. Retrieved 6/20/16 from https://web.archive.org/web/20150921223153/http://www.larimer.org/compass/grandparents_demographics.htm
[ii] Hayslip, B. Jr., & Kaminski, P. L. (2005). Grandparents
raising their grandchildren: A review of literature and suggestions for practice. The
Gerontologist, 45, 262-269.
