Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

Kinship Caregivers, Relatives as Parents, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

Kinship caregiving is the full-time nurturing and protection provided by relatives for children who must be temporarily or permanently separated from their parents.  If you are a relative raising a family member's child, you are not alone. While the majority of kinship care families are made up of grandparents raising their grandchildren, many other relatives, such as aunts, uncles, great aunts and uncles, older siblings, tribal members, and godparents, are raising children whose parents, for varying reasons, are unable to do so.

Kinship caregivers come from all walks of life, all income levels, and all cultures and races.  While each family's situation is unique, kinship care families share the need for information, services, and resources. 

You may feel overwhelmed by the new role you have taken on as a surrogate parent. The financial, emotional, and legal concerns can be challenging. Finding answers to questions, attempting to locate services, and dealing with social service agencies and the legal system can be a long and frustrating process. Ask for help because parenting is far too important a job to do alone.

Over the past 25 years, the number of children being raised by someone other than a parent has increased dramatically, with the vast majority of these children being raised by their grandparents.  Nationwide there are more than 56,700 grandparents raising their grandchildren without either of the child's parents involved, according to a report based on Canadian 2001 census data.

The same 2001 census reported that in British Columbia there were 8,780 children under the age of eighteen being raised by their grandparents without a parent in the home.  Two thirds of the grandparents in these households were women, and 46% were retired. 

Although grandparents and other relatives involved in the lives of children is a familiar and normal part of many cultural traditions, many of the grandparents and other relatives who are increasingly responsible for the care of children express, for the most part, a decrease in family structure and support, and feel overwhelmed and isolated in their roles.

Parent Support Services and Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

Parent Support Services in Victoria began to receive increasing requests for support from grandparents who found themselves with the sole responsibility for their grandchildren.  In response to these requests from the community, a weekly Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Support Circle was formed in the year 2000.  This GRG Support Circle has continued to develop and flourish since that time, with mini-courses and guest presenters offered at the request of the grandparents, and a network formed by the grandparents to advocate for more support and recognition for the role they play in the care of children.  In 2005, a Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Support Circle was started in Port Alberni, with groups in Nanaimo, Duncan, Westshore and Salt Spring Island soon to follow.  (See Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Support Circles for more information about local groups.)

Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Project with University of Victoria 2004-2006.

Between the years 2001 and 2004 the University of Victoria School of Social Work began a research project called Grandmothers Caring for Grandchildren. The researchers interviewed grandmothers who were raising their grandchildren, and studied the policies and practices relating to them.  The researchers, recognizing that there was crucial need for more support for these families, invited Parent Support Services and the Association of Family Serving Agencies in Victoria to collaborate with the University on a Vancouver Island – based project that would advocate for more awareness and support for grandparents and other relatives raising children, and would provide networking, resources and more supports for grandparent-led families.  The Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Project was funded by the Strategic Initiatives Investment Fund and administered through the Queen Alexandria Foundation in Victoria. 

As a result of the Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren project, a Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Resource Booklet  was created.  To download a PDF copy of the booklet, click here. A Gathering of Grandparents and Grandchildren was held in 2005 in Victoria, and submissions were made to BC Government agencies and ministries, including Ministry of Children and Family Development, Ministry of Human Resources, the Child and Youth Commission and Legal Services Society of BC.  Additionally, connections were made with grandparents and family serving agencies in Victoria, Port Alberni, Duncan, Nanaimo and Parksville, resulting in the formation of new partnerships to develop more supports, resources and networks between grandparents raising their grandchildren and the organizations with resources to offer services and supports.  In  the Spring of 2006, Parent Support Services Victoria was awarded a United Way grant to continue to develop Grandparent Raising Grandchildren supports and resources with other family serving agencies in the Greater Victoria region.  In the Fall of 2006, Parent Support Services was also awarded an extension grant through the Strategic Initiatives Investment Fund to continue the partnership with the University of Victoria in developing networks and supports for grandparents in the Mid and North Vancouver Island region.

Other Programs
Parent Support Circles
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Support
Parent Education Classes and Community Workshops