Transcript 33_Grandparents_Strieder - University of Maryland School

Grandparent Family Connections
University of Maryland School of Social Work
Ruth H. Young Center for Families and Children
Mini-Med School
University of Maryland School of Medicine
September 29, 2010
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University of Maryland
School of Social Work
Frederick H. Strieder, PhD, MSSA,
Clinical Associate Professor University of
Maryland School of Social Work Program
Director, Family Connections
[email protected]
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Family Connections is a program of the University of Maryland
School of Social Work Ruth H. Young Center for Families
and Children that develops, implements, and tests
community-based family strengthening services that
empower vulnerable families to achieve their safety, well-
being, and stability. The program is committed to
educating social work and other professionals to use
evidence-based models of practice.
www.family.umaryland.edu
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Acknowledgements
• Family Connections
– Original support received from U.S.D.H.H.S. Children’s Bureau, Grant
90-CA1580
– Diane DePanfilis, PI; Howard Dubowitz & Esta Glazer-Semmel, Co-PIs
• Grandparent Families
– Pilot tests of interventions with grandparent families supported by
Georgia State University & the Hasbro Foundation, MD Department of
Human Resources, & Maryland Children’s Trust Fund
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Current Support
• Replication of Family Connections with
Intergenerational Families
(Grandparent Family Connections)
– U.S. D.H.H.S, Children’s Bureau, 5-Year Cooperative Agreement
– Maryland’s Title IVE Education for Child Welfare Program (support for
some program staff)
– Annie E. Casey Foundation (10% cash match)
– Maryland Department of Human Resources (partial support of
operations for Family Connections program)
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Prior Research on Family Connections
• Suggests that intervention may have an effect
on:
– Reducing Risk Factors
• depressive symptoms
• parenting stress
• life stress
– Increasing Protective Factors
• parenting attitudes and satisfaction
• social support
AND…..
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Prior Research on Family Connections
• Results suggest improvement in targeted outcomes:
• Child Safety
– decreased CPS involvement
– fewer housing problems
– improved mental health care
– enhanced parental teaching of children
• Child Well-Being (Behavior)
– decreased externalizing behavior and internalizing
behavior
• Most positive effects endure six months following case
closure.
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Family Connections Received Recognition
from U.S. DHHS
• Designated as “demonstrated effective”
• DHHS, ACYF Funding Announcement Priority
area 2003D.1 Replication of Demonstrated
Effective Practices in the Prevention of Child
Abuse and Neglect.
• 8 cooperative agreements to replicate Family
Connections (FY04 - FY08) – one of these is our project
to replicate Family Connections with grandparent
families.
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Learning Objectives
 Unique needs and strengths of intergenerational
families.
 Risk and protective factors associated with raising
grandchildren.
 Principles and intervention strategies for effectively
working with intergenerational families.
 Understand the perspective of grandparents
receiving assistance.
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Comments from
Grandparent Caregivers
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Trends
• The 2000 U.S. Census
– 4.4 million children living in grandparent headed
households under the age of 18 and another 1.5
million children under 18 living in other relativemaintained households.
– 2.4 million grandparent-headed households
– 19% below poverty line
– 30% increase from 1990
– 72% under the age 65
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Trends
• The 2000 U.S. Census Grandparents
– 51% Caucasian
– 38% African American
– 13% Hispanics
• Proportion Caring for Grandchildren
– 1% Caucasian
– 4.3% African American
– 2.9% Hispanics
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Trends
• In Maryland
– 125, 697 grandparents live with grandchildren and
50,974 are responsible for their grandchildren’s
needs.
– 14th highest % of children living in grandparentheaded households of all 435 Congressional
Districts in U.S. Maryland District 7 (Baltimore City
and part of Baltimore Co.)
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Explaining the Trend
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Increase in drug abuse, especially crack cocaine
AIDS
Parental incarceration
Divorce
Teen Pregnancy
Rise in single-parent households
Poverty
Occurrences of child abuse and neglect
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Challenges and Stressors
Grandparents
• 45.9% African American care giving grandparents over 45
years of age have at least one disabled household member
(Minkler & Fuller-Thomson, 2005)
• One third of African American care giving grandmothers over
45 years of age are below the poverty line (Minkler & FullerThomson, 2005)
• African American care giving grandmothers over 45 years of
age were more likely to live in overcrowded conditions and
were more likely to have functional limitations (Minkler &
Fuller-Thomson, 2005)
• 33% of children in grandparent-headed households lack
health insurance (Kirby & Kaneda, 2002)
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Challenges and Stressors
Grandparents
• Providing long-term care (Fuller-Thomson et al., 1997)
• Complex legal situations (Grant, 2000)
• Intergenerational strain (Climo et al., 1999)
• Increased psychological distress, social isolation, depression,
deteriorating health (Kelley et al., 2000; Minkler & FullerThomson, 1999)
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Challenges & Stressors
Grandchildren
• Victims of abuse and neglect
• Victims of domestic violence
• Histories of living in unstable and chaotic households
• Problem behaviors in school, home, and community
• Emotional, academic difficulties and/or psychological or
physical problems (e.g., Sands & Goldberg-Glen, 2000)
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Prevention Framework
Risk
Factors
OUTCOMES
Child Safety
Protective
Factors
Child
Well-Being
Family
Stability
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Sample Risk & Protective Factors
• Risk Factors
– Everyday stress
– Parental stress
– Mental health
problems
– Alcohol & drug
problems
– Family conflict
• Protective Factors
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Parenting attitudes
Parenting competence
Family functioning
Social support
Safe neighborhoods
Family friendly
community resources
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A Population in Need of Services
Though their needs are serious
and unique, few programs
assist intergenerational
families. Grandparent
caregivers often fall
between the cracks of
foster care, aging,
education, and disability
service systems.
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Resilience
Processes or mechanisms that protect people against the
psychological risks associated with adversity
• Reduction of risk impact
• Reduction of negative chain reactions
• Establishment and maintenance of self-esteem and selfefficacy
• Opening up opportunities
Rutter, 1987
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Resilience
- the developmental and situational
mechanisms involved in protective process
Rutter, 1987
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Resilience
• Not a fixed attribute – changes related to time and
circumstances
• Protection resides, not in the evasion of the risk, but in
successful management with it.
• Change in risk trajectory to a more adaptive path
• Not invulnerability
Rutter, 1987
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Functions of Grandparent Caregiver…
Co-parenting Grandparent vs Custodial Grandparent
• Co-parenting grandparents
Those who share responsibility for a grandchild in households
that includes at least one of the child’s parents (FullerThomson, Hayslip, & Patrick, 2005).
• Custodial grandparents
Those who provide full care for the grandchild when the
grandchild’s parents is not present in the household (FullerThomson, Hayslip, & Patrick, 2005).
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Functions as Caregiver…
Role Identity
Three constructs of social role theory within the context of
the grandparent caregiver experience:
Role timing
Role ambiguity
Role conflict
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Role Timing
• The concept of “off-time” is established when the grandparent feels that the
transition from parent to grandparent has been disrupted. The grandparent
does not get to fully act in their role as grandparent, due to new parental
role.
• The age of the grandparent affects their willingness to take on this new
role. Many of the grandparents are in their “twenties and thirties and did
not welcome the early transition to grandparenthood”.
• Grandparents may see it as an opportunity to pass on familial values and
beliefs, as they redefine their new role.
(Landry-Meyer & Newman, 2004)
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Role Ambiguity…
• Refers to “lack of clear guidelines or socially agreed on
behaviors regarding a role”.
• Grandparent caregiver may struggle with their role as
grandparent vs parental role.
• Grandparent caregiver have to face the challenges that come
with lack of legal authority, such as medical care, school
enrollment, and applying for financial assistance through
public social services agencies.
(Landry-Meyer & Newman, 2004)
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Role Conflict…
• “May emerge between the enactment of an unanticipated role
and the external pressures of society.”
• Grandparent caregivers no longer experience the “traditional”
role of being a grandparent, they now have to struggle with
their new grandparent role.
• Grandparents may experience a sense of loss, as they lose their
traditional grandparent role, in order to incorporate their new
role as primary caregiver.
(Landry-Meyer & Newman, 2004)
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Comments from Grandparent Caregivers
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Intervention Strategies
for Working With
Intergenerational Families
Increasing Capacity
and
Reducing Risk
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Practice Principles
• Ecological developmental framework
• Community outreach
• Family assessment & tailored intervention
• Helping alliance with family
• Empowerment/strengths-based
• Cultural competence
• Outcome-driven service plans
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Intervention Services
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Crisis Intervention
Emergency Assistance
Individualized Outcomes-Based Services
Individual and Family Counseling
Advocacy
Case Management
Interdisciplinary Practice
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Special Considerations
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Life Stage Issues
Traumatized Children
Attachment Challenges
Intergenerational Conflict
Legal Issues
Health Care Issues
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Additional Resources
• AARP
www.aarp.org/families/grandparents/raising_grandchild
• Generations United
www.gu.com
• GrandFamilies of America
www.grandfamiliesofamerica.com
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DISCUSSION
Questions?
Comments?
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To retrieve a copy of this presentation,
please visit:
The Family Connections Web Site
http://www.family.umaryland.edu
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References
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American Association of Retired Persons (n.d.). Facts about raising
grandchildren.Retrieved October 23, 2002 from http://www.aarp.org.
Caliber Associates, Thomas, D., Leicht, C., Hughes, C., Madigan, A., & Dowell, K.
(2003). Emerging practices in the prevention of child abuse and neglect.
Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Child
Abuse and Neglect.
Harburger, D. S. & White, R. A. (2004) Reunifying Families, Cutting Costs: HousingChild Welfare Partnerships for Permanent Supportive Housing. Child Welfare, 88
(5), 493-528.
McCallion, P., Janicki, M.P., Grant-Griffin, L., & Kolomer, S.R. (2000). Grandparent
caregivers II: Service needs and service provision issues. Journal of Gerontological
Social Work, 33(3), 57-84).
Minkler, M. (1999). Intergenerational households headed by grandparents:
Contexts, realities and implications for policy. Journal of Aging Studies, 13 (2), 199218. Minkler, M., & Fuller-Thompson, E. (2000). Second time around
parenting: Factors predictive of grandparents becoming caregivers for
their grandchildren. International Journal of Aging and Human
Development, 50 (3), 185-200.
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References
• Minkler, M. & Fuller-Thomson, E. (2005). African American Grandparents
Raising Grandchildren: QA National Study Using the Census 2000
American Community Survey. Journal of Gerontology, 60B (2), S82-S92.
• Rutter, M. Psychosocial resilience and protective factors. American Journal
of Orthopsychiatry 1987, 57(3), 316-330.
• Saluter, A.F. (1992). Marital status and living arrangements: March 1991.
Current population reports. Series P20-461. Washington, D.C.: US
Government Printing Office.
• Sands, R.G., & Goldberg-Glen, R.S. (2000). Factors associated with stress
among grandparents raising their grandchildren. Family Relations, 49, 97105.
• Scarcella, C. A., Macomber J. E., & Geen, R. (2003). Identifying and
Addressing the
Needs of Children in Grandparent Care: New
Federalism: National Survey of America’s Families. Urban Institute,
Retrieved 12/4/2006 at
http://www.unban.gov/url.cmf?ID=301842
• U.S. Bureau of the Census (2002).U.S. Census Bureau State and County
Quick Facts, Baltimore City, Maryland, Retrieved 7/21/03 at
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/24/24510.html
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