Grants for Women Raising Grandchildren

Nearly six million American children live with their grandparents.

According to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), the U.S. 2010 census reveals that 7.9 percent of the nation's children under the age of 18—more than 5.8 million—live with their grandparents. Federal, state and private grants for these women help provide needed support, meet basic needs and promote family preservation.

Significance

Two-thirds of the grandparents who support grandchildren are under the age of 60, as of the time of publication, and up to one-third of them do so without the help of the child’s parents. Close to 20 percent of women raising grandchildren live in poverty. According to the Child Welfare League of America, approximately one-third of all children in state custody live with a grandmother or another family member because of factors such as poverty levels, mental and physical health issues or violence and drug use by biological parents. In a 2005 research paper, Hwa-Ok Park of the Institute for Research on Poverty wrote that single grandmothers face the most economic hardships when raising grandchildren because they are most likely to be in poor health and live in poverty.

Types of Grants

Grants from federal and state agencies as well as private entities and nonprofit organizations provide funding for women raising grandchildren. Government grants, such as the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) provide cash assistance and food benefits to low-income grandmothers. Grants from nonprofit and private organizations help fund kinship programs that provide informational materials, resources and support services to grandparents raising grandchildren, as well as services to the grandchildren who may be in state custody. Among the organizations offering such grants are the AARP Foundation, the Brookdale Foundation Group, Eldercare Locator and GrandFamilies of America.

Benefits

Grants for women raising grandchildren benefit the grandmothers as much as the children. Such financial assistance helps women meet the basic needs of their grandchildren by paying for clothing, housing, school supplies, food, medical care and other basic needs. When agencies receive grants to assist this population, they are able to provide support in the form of educational assistance, complimentary or reduced-cost services, counseling and support groups. In addition, such grants also promote family continuity and housing permanency for the grandchildren.

Considerations

If a woman raising her grandchildren has not formally adopted them or if the state’s child services program has not formally placed them in her care as a foster parent, these children are considered homeless, per the McKinney-Vento Act of 1987. Consequently, the grandchildren are automatically eligible to receive Medicaid and the grandmother can enroll them in a school even if she does not have any of the necessary enrollment documents. Grants provided to school districts through the McKinney-Vento Act enable the grandchildren to receive free meals at school and transportation to their school of origin as long as the school is within a reasonable distance from the grandmother’s home.

References

• AARP: Grandfacts
• Child Welfare League of America: Kinship Care: About the Program
• Georgia State University: Resources
• University of Wisconsin: Grandmothers Raising Grandchildren: Family Well-Being and Economic Assistance
• National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth: The McKinney-Vento Act and Children and Youth Awaiting Foster Care Placement