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They Call Me Momma:
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The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that more than 2.3 million grandparents are raising their grandchildren nationwide. The picture here at home is just as staggering. According to the University of Cincinnati Institute for Policy Research, grandparents are helping raise children in 10% of Ohio households, and one in four of those act as the primary caregiver. At this point in life, most grandparents want to spoil their grandkids, anticipating their golden years as a time to enjoy the privileges of grandchildren - minus the responsibilities. These days, that ideal is a thing of the past for an increasing number of grandparents and other relatives. With a host of societal ills plaguing today's parents, more relatives are stepping in as mom and dad than ever. This morning we begin an in-depth series on kinship care - "They Call Me Momma: Relatives Raising Children." 90.3 WCPN®'s Renita Jablonski lays the groundwork as she introduces us to this growing social issue.
Renita Jablonski–On the way to pick up her 4-year-old granddaughter from daycare, Lakewood resident Eleanor Mora recalls how she went from grandma to momma.
Eleanor Mora–First I started babysitting a lot, then pretty soon the child was left with me or else she would take her with her and that was more frightening then you know, her being left so I finally just said instead of taking her to drug houses and other places when you do need to go, I can't stop you, then just leave her with me, I want her to be safe.
RJ–Mora's
story mirrors those of a growing number of relatives becoming instant
parents. According to the latest statistics from the 2000 Census Survey,
more than 83,000 grandparents in Ohio are raising their grandchildren.
Tami Lorkovich is a licensed social worker and a supervisor in the adoption
department at Bellfaire Jewish Children's Bureau. She says the figure
doesn't surprise her.
Tami Lorkovich–We're running out of resources, in terms of foster parents, in terms of individuals who want to adopt older kids and this is one more way to find families and find homes for kids, is to start with the kin.
RJ–Lorkovich points out that not only are child protection agencies turning to kin as the first placement option, but also as the best option.
TL–They already have an attachment to the child. They already know kind of what they're getting into. They understand what the needs of the child are usually better.
RJ–While the mantra of family preservation is being recognized by family-service officials more and more, the concept of kinship care isn't anything new. Informal adoption has always been a strong thread in the fabric of many cultures. As chair of the board of the Ohio Family Care Association, as well as a foster and kin-parent herself in East Cleveland, Quovadis Ellison is very familiar with the idea.
Quovadis Ellison–Kinship is not a new word in the African American community. We have done kinship for years, or even centuries. The black community has always taken care of their own but it has gotten to be such an enormous thing.
RJ–Such a big thing in fact that A.A.R.P. estimates nationally the number of grandparents raising their grandchildren has climbed 40% in the last decade. Lorkovich says the reasons behind the jump are multi-fold.
TL–We
have welfare reform where we are seeing a strong, we're already seeing
an impact in that families are calling us, birth families are calling
us and saying, "My welfare is running out, the time frames have stopped,
I can't take care of these children, I want my mother to take them, what
are my options?" Probably an even bigger impact righ now is increase in
drug use.
RJ–Something Eleanor Mora knows all too well.
EM–My daughter has been an alcoholic and using drugs probably since she was 15. She's 33 now.
In the middle of the night she calls me and I hear the child screaming, I mean sobbing and I say, "What's wrong?" And she says, "I don't know. I've done everything I know how. I have walked her, I have talked to her, I have changed her, she's dry." And she goes on and on and I said, "When is the last time you fed her?" "About seven hours ago maybe." I said, "This is a newborn." Crack is really powerful. It has a real hold on so many people.
RJ–Right now, Mora's daughter is in prison on drug charges. That's why Mora has custody of her granddaughter and, at age 65, is becoming acquainted with Barbies. Of the 6,000 children that are in the legal custody of Cuyahoga County, 1,600 are placed with relatives. That doesn't account for thousands more living in informal kinship care arrangements, where no child welfare agency is involved. In Lakewood, Renita Jablonski, 90.3 WCPN® News.
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