Check out a great story by Dawne Gee from Wave 3 News on the rising number of grandparents raising grandchildren. Gee captures the stories of a number of grandparents and the challenges they face. She also interviews Kentucky Youth Advocates’ executive director, Terry Brooks who states:
“It really does call on folks on lots of levels to begin to get our arms around the issue. To think about what those grandparents need in order to support the kids. The decisions we make today are going to affect how those kids develop. We as a commonwealth and we as a community need to own that this is a new family arrangement.”
Efforts are underway in Kentucky’s General Assembly to enact caregiver authorization laws which will allow grandparents and other relatives who do not have legal custody or guardianship to enroll children in school and access educational services and health care for them. This is a cost-neutral way to remove barriers for kinship families.
