Supporting Grandparents Raising 

Grandchildren Advisory 

Council Meeting

April 23, 2020
Welcome and Roll Call

Greg Link

Director, Office of Supportive and Caregiver Services 

Administration for Community Living

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Opening and Convening 

Remarks

Lance Robertson

Administrator/Assistant Secretary for Aging

Administration for Community Living

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Council Mission Statement

The mission of the Advisory Council to Support 

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (SGRG) is to 

identify, promote, coordinate and disseminate

information, resources, and best practices to help 

older adults meet the health, educational, nutritional, 

and other needs of the children in their care, while 

maintaining their own physical, mental, and 

emotional well-being. As part of this vision, all 

recommendations will consider the needs of 

members of Native American tribes and families 

affected by the opioid crisis.

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Agenda Overview & Updates

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Timeframe Agenda Item Presenter

12:00 p.m. - 12:10 p.m. Welcome and Roll Call Greg Link

12:10 p.m. - 12:20 p.m. Opening and Convening 

Remarks

Lance Robertson

12:20 p.m. - 12:30 p.m. Agenda Overview and 

Updates

Lori Staulbaum

12:30 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. COVID-19 Council 

Discussion

Jaia Lent

Dr. Ethlyn Gibson

12:45 p.m. - 2:55 p.m.  Glossary of Terms 

Discussion

 Create and Adopt a 

Vision Statement

 Develop and Adopt 

Guiding Principles

Facilitator:

Wilma BrockingtonParker

2:55 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Wrap Up and Next Steps Greg Link
COVID-19 Council Discussion

Jaia Peterson Lent, MSW, LMSW

Deputy Executive Director

Generations United

Ethlyn McQueen-Gibson, DNP, MSN, RN-BC

Director, Center for Gerontology

Hampton University 

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COVID-19: Focus on Families

• Food and Supplies: Access to food, medicine and basic supplies 

without requiring they leave the house and risk greater exposure.

• Information: Accurate information from people they trust. Families 

may be especially vulnerable to misinformation.

• Technology/Virtual Support: Internet and technology assistance for 

tele-health needs, children’s distance learning, and to reduce social 

isolation. Before the pandemic caregivers often found critical help 

through support groups where they rely on one another for 

information about how to cope and where to go for help. They need 

help maintaining these connections through virtual support groups.

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COVID-19 Focus on Families

• Financial Assistance: Many caregivers have lost full or part time 

jobs. Caregivers often use retirement savings to pay for the children’s 

needs. Now those savings are plummeting. 

• Alternative Care Plans: Emergency plans are necessary in the 

event a caregiver dies or becomes too ill to care for the children. 

Children often come into their care unexpectedly and many 

caregivers have not had the opportunity to plan where the children 

will go if they can no longer care for them.

• Help with Children at Home: Help supporting their children’s 

education at home. Many are caring for children with special needs 

and who have IEP’s and other supportive services that are not 

available during the pandemic. 

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COVID-19: Focus on Families

• Managing Visitation/Relationships with Birth Parents: 

Caregivers are concerned about continuing in person 

visitation with birth parents because of risk of exposure to 

the virus, but fearful of violating agreements. Some 

incarcerated birth parents are being release early and 

asking to live with them.

• Kinship Navigators: These programs are trusted sources 

of information and referral for grandfamily caregivers to 

connect to critical services. These programs identify families 

in need and coordinate with other community-based 

programs to help families get the supplies and support they 

need. Demand for these services is skyrocketing. 

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COVID-19 Discussion:

Resources for Professionals

• Distancing: Physical Separation Without Social 

Isolation (The Gerontological Society of America’s National Adult Vaccination Program)

• What you Can do if you are at Higher Risk of 

Severe Illness from COVID-19 (CDC fact sheet)

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COVID-19: Links to Professional Resources

RESOURCE with URL DESCRIPTION

AARP Community Connections Website to aid communities in organizing mutual assistance

AARP Coronavirus Tele-Town Hall series Provide updates and topical discussions for older adults

Administration for Community Living (ACL) COVID-19: Information for Older Adults and People with Disabilities

American Geriatrics Society Provides resources and tools for professionals and older adults

Center to Advance Palliative Care Provides toolkit resources and online courses for crisis communication and symptom 

management protocols

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Provides information for professionals and caregivers at home; Older adults and COVID-19; 

Interim guidance for home care of people not requiring hospitalization for COVID-19

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Emergency response and guidance for coronavirus

Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center 

Interactive Map

COVID-19 global case by Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins

National Council on Aging – Senior Centers COVID-19 Resources for Senior Centers

National Council on Aging – Professionals COVID-19 Resources for Professionals

National Council on Aging - Older Adults & Caregivers COVID-19 Resources for Older Adults & Caregivers

TimeSlips Webinar: Engagement in a Time of Quarantine

VitalTalk Open source primer for COVID-ready communication skills

World Health Organization Provides global situation reports and web-based courses to prepare professionals to 

respond to COVID-19 

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COVID-19: Discussion

1. How is COVID-19 impacting families 

where grandparents and other relatives 

are raising children?

2. How can the SGRG Advisory Council 

inform efforts to help grandfamilies 

impacted by COVID-19 or other national 

emergencies?

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Facilitated Discussion

Wilma Brockington-Parker, MBA, SPHR, PCC

ACL Facilitator

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Glossary of Terms Discussion

Terms:

• Grandparent

• Grandfamily

• Kin

• Fictive Kin

• Kinship Families

• Relative Caregiver

• Kinship Care

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Creating a Blended-Harmonized Term

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Considering the 

definitions for terms 

in the graph, what

specific term do you 

suggest we use to 

describe caregiver 

support?
Create and Adopt a Vision 

Statement 

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Council Mission Statement:

The Advisory Council to Support Grandparents 

Raising Grandchildren (SGRG) creates and executes 

activities to identify, promote, coordinate, and 

disseminate to the public information, resources, and 

best practices available to help grandparents and other 

relatives meet the health, educational, nutritional, and 

other needs of the children in their care, maintain their 

own physical and mental health and emotional wellbeing, and consider the needs of those affected by the 

opioid crisis and the needs of members of Native 

American tribes. 

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Vision Statement Defined

Vision is a picture crafted today of what the Council’s 

future will look like. By working with and listening to those 

with an interest, the Council should acquire an 

understanding of what services are wanted and the issues 

of concern.

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Examples of 

Vision Statements

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• New Pathways

“At New Pathways, we believe that – given the chance 

young people are the key to thriving economies and a 

vibrant future for us all. And we’ll do everything we can 

to help them get there.”

• Family Connections Center:

“Families we serve will continue to have access to 

multicultural/multilingual resources and neighborhood 

support services that provide opportunities for 

community-driven initiatives and strengthening 

individual skills to create a safer, healthier, and 

empowered community in which to raise children.”
Vision Statement Checklist

1. Does the vision statement provide a clear picture of the 

Council’s future?

2. Is the vision statement challenging and inspiring?

3. Is the vision statement believable?

4. Will achieving the vision positively add to our overall 

mission?

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SGRG DRAFT 

Vision Statement

The Advisory Council to Support Grandparents Raising 

Grandchildren (SGRG) will be an authoritative leader for 

identifying and creating best practices to support and 

advocate for grandfamilies and other caregivers. We will 

serve to create better tomorrows for families today.

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Guiding Principles

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What Are Guiding Principles?

• Ideas that give an organization guidance in 

circumstances - even if goals change and work 

changes.

• Can be critical for framing complex work.

• They help to ensure that shared, core values are 

articulated upfront and shape results. 

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The Why...

Guiding principles will:

• Allow focused decisions when developing outline 

for Report to Congress

• Assist in reviewing materials to include for the 

Report to Congress

• Provide foundation for decisions on other activities 

the Council may undertake in the future.

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Draft Guiding Principles

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Draft Guiding Principles

• [Grandfamilies and kinship caregivers], here used as intertwining terms that are 

inclusive and holistic, describe families in which children, whose parents are not 

able to raise them, are being raised by their grandparents, older relatives, or 

others.

• Promote greater adoption of person- and family-centered supports that place 

[grandparents, grandfamilies, older relatives, and kinship caregivers] and their 

families at the center of every support system, while also acknowledging the 

challenge of possible conflicting goals.

• Efforts to support [grandparents, grandfamilies, older relatives and kinship 

caregivers] should further their autonomy, choice, and ability to remain engaged 

and contribute meaningfully in their communities.

• Recommendations should recognize and support [grandparents, grandfamilies, 

older relatives and kinship caregivers] in a fair and impartial manner that also 

accounts for financial impact, while respecting and appreciating the complexity, 

diversity, and dignity of these families.

• Ensure that the needs of [grandparents, grandfamilies, older relatives and 

kinship caregivers] are integral to the National Family Caregiving Strategy, 

which is being developed by the Family Caregiving Advisory Council. 

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Guiding Principles Discussion

1. Are these principles applicable and relevant for our 

purposes? If not, what do you suggest?

2. Will these principles help shape and form the Report to 

Congress? If not, what would you add or change?

3. Are the guiding principles sufficient to shape other 

activities desired by the Council such as white papers, 

fact sheets, webinars, and conference presentations? If 

not, how can we improve?

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Wrap Up and Next Steps

Greg Link, Director

Office of Supportive and Caregiver Services

Administration for Community Living

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Thank You

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