Raising Relatives Children: Aging, Disabilities, and Resources

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Raising Relatives Children Aging,
Disabilities, and Resources

• August, 2009
• Rochester

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Improving lives of grandparents, other relatives

and the children they are raising.


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Presenters

• MKCA
• Sharon Durken, MS
• MKCA Executive Director
• Coordinate Statewide Kinship Network
• Kinship Kid
• Caregivers
• Barb Sauter
• Mary Ward
• Margaret Beirne

• Child Care Resource Referral Relatives as
  Parents (RAP)
• Carma Bjornson
• Serving SE MN
• Arc Greater Twin Cities Relatives as Parents
  (RAP)
• Janet Salo
• Serving Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area

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Nationwide, there are 6.7 million children living
in relative households, 2.4 million without
parents present. (US Census). 225,000 increase in
the past 5 years. There are 600,000 living in
foster homes.
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System Overwhelmed

• Nationally if 1 million of the 6.7 million
  children living with grandparents or relatives
  were in the foster care system it would cost
  taxpayers about 6.5 billion dollars each year.
  This figure was calculated based on the Federal
  share of the 2000 average monthly foster care
  maintenance payment estimated at 545.
• Generations United 2002

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At home in Minnesota, the trend is staggering.
About 34,000 children live in homes headed by
grandparents, 19,000 live without the parent
present. Another 14,000 children live with other
relatives. Total 48,000 children.
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Formal Informal Kinship Care

• Formal or informal 15 and 85.
• Support resources?
• Formal-child protection-county custody-juvenile
  court-foster care-benefits, resources, case plan,
  social worker

• Informal-Grandma got there first.
• Child only grant-250.00 per month.
• Impact in Minnesota
• If all the informally raised kids were in the
  formal system.

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Why Older People Are Parenting

• Drugs and alcohol
• Incarceration
• Death
• Disability or Illness
• Neglect and abuse
• Money
• Divorce
• Domestic violence
• Family or community crisis
• Military deployment

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How Grand Kids Arrive

• Slowly spend more and more time with relatives
• Ask to live with grandma
• Are dropped off
• County or police call
• Parents request
• Relative rescues kids
• How did your relative children arrive?

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Older Individuals and the Impact of Kinship

• Professionals
• Whats usually the first issue the caregivers
  contact you about?
• Caregivers
• Whats the first hurdle you, the caregiver, had
  to bridge when taking on the care of a relative
  child?

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The Impact of Kinship on Relationships

• Relationship Challenges
• Struggles caregiver, children parenting role
• Conflict caregiver/biological parent of the
  child child
• Time with spouse, friends family sacrificed
• Jealousy of other family members
• Positive Influences on Relationships
• Secure, safe environment for children
• Close relationship between caregivers and
  children
• Keeping family ties
• Having a strong social and emotional support
  system is important for providing quality care to
  grandchildren and other relatives children.

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Disability Another Consideration

• Stress-emotional and physical toll
• Finding and navigating complex service systems
• Housing situations
• Planning for the future
• There are a variety of financial benefits,
  services and supports available for kinship
  caregivers who are experiencing
  disability-related issues.

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Kinship Caregiver Issues

• Coping
• Grief, loss, fear, anger, resentment, stress,
  insecurity, attachment
• Social isolation
• Stigma
• Who can I talk to?
• Finances
• Illness

• Tired-respite
• Friends
• Relationships
• Pain
• Parenting
• Different world
• Where to get help
• Living arrangements
• Multi-generational

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Childrens Needs

• Stability, permanence,
• history, a home
• where they belong,
• fewer disruptions,
• and family ties.

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Support Groups Why Important

• Kinship children
• Dagwood sandwich generation
• Activities geared to kinship families
• Small groups
• Others who care
• Listeners
• Non-judgmental
• Peer mentors
• Why the group is important to me

• Others who share similar concerns, issues,
  losses.
• Understanding facilitator able to focus group
  discussions.
• Educational speakers.
• New friends.
• Keeps depression at bay.
• Share health concerns.
• Get advice from others raising relative children.

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Region 6 Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe
(covers six reservations)
Region 1 Mahube
Community Council (covers nineteen counties)
Region 2
AEOA Rock Program, (covers
thirteen counties)
Region 3
Child Care Choices (covers
twenty-seven counties)
Region 5
Lutheran Social Service (covers
nine counties)
Special Services Arc Greater Twin Cities
Disability support The Village Family
Services-St. Cloud- counseling

Region 4
Child Care Resources Referral
(covers twenty counties)
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First Steps Getting Started Raising Relatives'
Children, a resource guide full of practical
information and suggestions has been developed
for grandparents and others raising relatives'
children and children of friends.
Legal Steps provides basic information on how to
get the legal authority to make decisions for a
child, how to get legal custody of a child and
the benefits and services available to help care
for a child. NEWLegal Steps Video, companion to
Legal Steps Manualorder now!!
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Minnesota Kinship Caregivers Association Sharon
J. DurkenExecutive Director 161 St. Anthony Ave,
Suite 940 St. Paul, MN 55103


651-917-4640/4642



mkca_at_mkca.org


sharon_at_mkca.org Child Care Resource
Referral - Rochester 800-462-1660 Carma Bjornson
carma_at_c2r2.org Arc Greater Twin Cities metro
952-920-0855 Janet Salo janetsalo_at_arcgreatertwinc
ities.org
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Questions

• What impact do you see on kinship families?
• How can you address their needs?
• What support does your organization offer?
• How can the entire extended kinship family be
  supported?
• What other issues might older caregivers
  experience?

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Resources

• Minnesota Kinship Caregivers Association
• www.mkca.org
• MN Area Agencies on Aging
• www.M4a.org
• GrandFamilies of America
• www.grandfamiliesofamerica.org
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• The Brookdale Foundation
• www.BrookdaleFoundation.org
• The Arc of Minnesota
• www.thearcofminnesota.org

• Generations United
• www.gu.org
• CLASP
• www.clasp.org
• AARP
• www.aarp.org
• Minnesota Help
• www.minnesotahelp.info
• First Call for Help 211