Date: August 31, 2005
Contact: Barbara Schoof Conant
barbaraconant@aging.state.ks.us
Director of Communications
(785) 296-6154
In an Aug. 29 signing ceremony, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius proclaimed September as "Grandparents And Relatives Raising Children Awareness Month” in Kansas.
Pamela Johnson-Betts, Secretary of the Kansas Department on Aging (KDOA), said the proclamation is an opportunity to publicly thank the nearly 18,000 grandparents who care for more than 35,000 children across the state. The number of children being cared for by grandparents and relatives has increased 43 percent in the past 15 years.
“The value of these grandparents goes well beyond dollars and cents,” said Johnson-Betts. “Keeping families together preserves the family’s heritage and demonstrates commitment and the importance of facing family responsibilities together. Without these dedicated seniors, many children would be forced into the formal foster care system,”
More than six million children - approximately 1 in 12 - live in households headed by grandparents or other relatives. Only about 17 percent of those children are in the foster care system. The remaining 83 percent are being raised by grandparents or other relatives with little or no public assistance. Translated into dollars, Kansas saves an average of $25,000 a year for every child kept out of the foster care system.
Recognizing that many grandparents and relatives often don’t know where to go for help, KDOA created the Relatives As Parents Program. The program advocates and provides support for the relative caregivers and the children they are raising.
The program provides information and assistance to grandparents and other relatives raising children in Kansas. The program has established two support groups for relative caregivers in Kansas, and are in the process of starting three more. The program has developed a brochure and resource pamphlet as well assisting with the development and distribution of several newsletters.
For more information on the Relatives As Parents Program in Kansas, please go to the Kansas Department on Aging’s website http://www.agingkansas.org and click on “Programs.”