How Grandparents Are Assuming the Role as Caregivers

For many children who come from a looked after care status, moving around from home to home can lead to many negative issues such as low self esteem, lack of self respect, increased levels of truancy as they feel not wanted or that they don’t belong. Children in a looked after care status may be looked after by grandparents. Lack of money for pensioners may lead to little or no activities for the child and they may not be able to go out to play, have few friends or be bullied by their peers, much depends on their grandparents age and also their ability to be able to encourage and promote activities with the child.

A significant disadvantage of kinship care is that supportive services are needed because the grandparents are usually living in the same communities which include poverty, racism, and possibly violence. Another disadvantage of this form of care is that the adoptive parent may be resentful towards the child. As a result of feeling forced to take care of their grandchild, niece, or nephew and the responsibility that comes with caring for a child, they may end up mistreating the child. Another disadvantage is that the biological parents may have unauthorized contact with the child. Parents may pressure the adoptive parent to allow them to see their child. An important disadvantage to consider with kinship care is that the adoptive parents may be elderly. This results in the difficulty in properly caring for the children, especially if they are very young. They older adult may lack psychically performing activities and may have low financial resources to provide for the

With the advancements in healthcare and people living longer lives America is facing a caregiver crisis, due to the growth of the aging population. Statistics show that the number of people 65 years and older is expected to rise 101% between 2000 and 2030, yet the number of family members who can provide care for these older adults is only expected to rise 25% (Gupta, 2015). This significant change in the population raises many questions, who will care for this group, how will their safety be ensured, how will the elderly travel, where will they live, will building structures need to change to allow easier access, will the government create a caregiver corps to check on the elderly who are isolated, and ultimately how does the government

Children become looked after when their parents are unable to provide on-going care in either a temporary or permanent capacity.

In the U.S, one in four will be aged 60 years and older by 2050 (U.S. Census Bureau). This represents an overwhelming number of people who will either be in the caretaker role or be the ROC. Like today, most of the care will be provided by informal unpaid caregivers. The number of informal unpaid caregivers is expected to rise from 20 million in 2000 to 37 million in 2050 (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation [ASPE], 2003). Because of the burden of care giving, many caregivers will experience depression, poor health and quality of life (Etters, Goodall, & Harrison, 2008). Their well-being is an important public health concern.

may become unable or unwilling to adequately care for their children . Children often times experience a loss of parental availability and as a result, feel lonely and Isolated. More often

The final stage is the “family in later life”. During this stage, individuals must accept the shifting of generational roles, as they become the grandparents. They must be able to let go of some power to their offspring as they find their new place in the family system. Dealing with this change while facing potential decline in health, financial security, and loss of spouse can be stressful. Grandparenthood can be a reward substitute (Carter & McGoldrick, 1988, p. 20).

Adult children caring for their aging parent or grandparent provide the majority of informal support. This is due in part because grandmothers “raise their grandchildren to believe in lifetime reciprocity”, grandchildren often feel an obligation to care for their aging family members (Novak, 2012, p.191). Furthermore, a heavy reliance on family support may be due to a lack of trust exists towards formal health care programs, a lack of access, or a general lack of

This article discusses what is best for a child and how each situation can be is uniquely delicate. It also talks about the continuity, attachment, and emotional impact of removing a child from the care of long-term caregivers, such as grandparents.

The decision of whether or not to place an aging parent into a long-term care facility, or to try and to keep them in their own home or yours is one that many American families are facing each day. Factors in dealing with this decision are too numerous to count but we will address a few of them in the following paper, like the financial aspects, psychosocial, and meeting the overall needs of our ever aging parents.

Kinship care is the full-time care and nurturing of a child by a relative or someone who has a significant emotional relationship with the child. If children must be separate from their parents, either voluntarily or by court order, kinship care should be the first placement option explored by the child welfare agency. The Federal Government endorsed this practice most recently in the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. Placing children in Kinship care helps States’ compliance with Federal requirements to provide children with safety, stability, and permanency. It also meets provisions of the Fostering Connection Act that requires agencies to notify relatives when

Multiple studies have reported grandparents adopted the responsibility of caring for children, especially in cases of maternal incarceration (Burnette, 1999; Dressel and Barnhill, 1990; Fuller-Thompson, Minkler, and Driver, 1997). Morgan et al (2014) report that 'becoming a custodial grandparent constitutes a major, unexpected role transition in the life course of older adults'. This role can be physically, emotional and financially demanding on grandparents and has been reported to increase the risk of depression and multiple chronic health problems (Burton, 1992; Minkler and Roe, 1993; Poehlmann, 2003). Grandparents may also experience the same guilt and stigma associated with having a loved one in prison (Dressel and Barnhill, 1994; Minkler, 1999; Pinson-Millburn et al., 1996). Turanovic, Rodriguez and Pratt (2012) report that often grandparents can feel as though they are to blame for not providing good enough parenting to their own child, thus, feel a duty to support their grandchildren. Additionally, as this childcare is most likely to take place on an 'informal basis', Grandparents are less likely to receive childcare benefits or support (Beltran, 2001, Hayslip and Kaminski, 2005). With this said, at lot of the samples discussed originate from the USA and may not be generalisable to a UK population. It may be interesting to explore if this grandparent caring responsibility is consistent among a UK sample. As financial hardship seems to be a reoccurring theme within the literature this research shall also include a professional from the welfare sector to explore the sources of support for prisoner's families within this

Culturally is it unusual that Lanesha’s grandmother is her primary caregiver? I would like to say no to this question, but the facts behind this issue don’t support it. Within the African American community, approximately 12% of African American children nationally are cared for by their grandparents, compared to approximately 7% of Hispanic children and 4% of non-Hispanic White children (NCBI, 2010). Lanesha and her grandmother are part of a larger issue that is reflected in today’s society. Several reasons can exist for this paradigm, anything from the parents needing complete education, the grandparents supplementing expensive daycare costs, or simply because the parents are not involved in the child’s life.

The grandparents are faced with financial challenges and limited resources causing them to feel resentment towards their new role as “parent”. Children often go undisciplined not because of a lack of caring but from the huge age differences and energy level of the grandparent(s). The grandparent(s) seclusion from friends and social events can make many of them sink into depression causing further feelings of isolation by the child. Animosity among the grandparents other kids and grandchildren can cause further rife within the family unit.

A child’s interaction with caregivers can affect them for the rest of their lives. Attachment and parenting styles play a role in a child’s personality, social, and cognitive skills. It is important for adults to understand the severity of attachment and positive relationships with children.