Coalition helps grandparents, relatives who take on job of raising grandkids:
Kinship Caregiver program provides support and information for secondtime-around parents.
Barnes, Joyce. Dayton Daily News, Dec. 28, 2006.
DAYTON — Bonnie Grooms calls it "sad work."
After four years as a community health care advocate with the Kinship Caregiver Coalition, Grooms knows people don't call their office when things are going well.
It's when they get that "knock on the door," she says, "and on the other side stands 6-year-old twin granddaughters, whose parents can no longer function, and a caseworker asking, 'Will you take them?' "
The average age of a Coalition client is 56 years. Some are in their 70s and 80s. Most are single grandmothers, but aunts, uncles, or other relatives can also find themselves suddenly parents all over again.
Nationwide, nearly 6 million children are being raised by grandparents or other relatives, 40 percent of the time without the parents present.
It's when they get that "knock on the door," she says, "and on the other side stands 6-year-old twin granddaughters, whose parents can no longer function, and a caseworker asking, 'Will you take them?' "
The average age of a Coalition client is 56 years. Some are in their 70s and 80s. Most are single grandmothers, but aunts, uncles, or other relatives can also find themselves suddenly parents all over again.
Nationwide, nearly 6 million children are being raised by grandparents or other relatives, 40 percent of the time without the parents present.
In Ohio, 86,009 grandparents report they are responsible for their grandchildren living with them: 27 percent of these grandparents are black, 2 percent are Hispanic, and 68 percent are white, according to the AARP. The numbers, however, don't tell the story of the many challenges — legal, medical, educational, emotional and financial — this new and growing number of parents face.
This is why the Kinship Caregiver Coalition was created six years ago, to provide support and information for second-time-around parents. With a staff of four, the program helps kinship caregivers find the energy, time and resources to raise the children of their children. The Montgomery County program, an initiative of the Center for Healthy Communities, was the first of its type in Ohio, says program director Dionne Simmons. It is now a state and nationwide model.
Although the work can be daunting, it's also fulfilling and rewarding for Simmons, Grooms, program aide Sylvia G. Hatch and Ilene Thomas, the other Kinship Navigator in the office.
Before the holidays, they coordinated an Adopt-a-Family program to deliver Christmas wish lists to cash-strapped kinship families.
The Adopt-A-Family component is growing, said Simmons, because during the Christmas season, people become more aware of and generous toward those who need a little help.
But the Kinship Caregiver program and its coalition of 41 countywide agencies must maintain that giving spirit 365 days in the year. All year, they make home visits, accompany grandparents to custody hearings, shop for clothes or food, staff the Kinship Closet, advise, counsel and, they hope, empower and inspire kinship caregivers to make it through another day.
"We will turn over that last rock to find the resources people need," Simmons said.
Why do they choose to do this "sad" work?
"It comes from within. Even if you do this as a job, you have to have that serving spirit," said Simmons, who also holds a bachelor of science degree in health services administration and a gerontology certificate from Ohio University.
The Kinship Navigators say they have a special respect for their clients — proud, resourceful and grateful people, many of whom have never needed the help of social services before.
As more and more grandparents and other relatives take on the responsibility of raising their second set of children, the coalition will be a resource.
For more information or to volunteer, call Dionne Simmons at (937) 775-1116.
This is why the Kinship Caregiver Coalition was created six years ago, to provide support and information for second-time-around parents. With a staff of four, the program helps kinship caregivers find the energy, time and resources to raise the children of their children. The Montgomery County program, an initiative of the Center for Healthy Communities, was the first of its type in Ohio, says program director Dionne Simmons. It is now a state and nationwide model.
Although the work can be daunting, it's also fulfilling and rewarding for Simmons, Grooms, program aide Sylvia G. Hatch and Ilene Thomas, the other Kinship Navigator in the office.
Before the holidays, they coordinated an Adopt-a-Family program to deliver Christmas wish lists to cash-strapped kinship families.
The Adopt-A-Family component is growing, said Simmons, because during the Christmas season, people become more aware of and generous toward those who need a little help.
But the Kinship Caregiver program and its coalition of 41 countywide agencies must maintain that giving spirit 365 days in the year. All year, they make home visits, accompany grandparents to custody hearings, shop for clothes or food, staff the Kinship Closet, advise, counsel and, they hope, empower and inspire kinship caregivers to make it through another day.
"We will turn over that last rock to find the resources people need," Simmons said.
Why do they choose to do this "sad" work?
"It comes from within. Even if you do this as a job, you have to have that serving spirit," said Simmons, who also holds a bachelor of science degree in health services administration and a gerontology certificate from Ohio University.
The Kinship Navigators say they have a special respect for their clients — proud, resourceful and grateful people, many of whom have never needed the help of social services before.
As more and more grandparents and other relatives take on the responsibility of raising their second set of children, the coalition will be a resource.
For more information or to volunteer, call Dionne Simmons at (937) 775-1116.
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