Abdullah lived in 37 different foster homes. There are more than 2.5 million grandparent-headed households in the United States where grandchildren receive the care that the parents can not, for a variety of reasons, offer. At last count, nearly 500,000 California children were living in grandparent-headed households. There's a lot of depression. Alameda County advisor Mary Blackburn, who has been raising one of her eight grandchildren for the past 9 years.
Some grandparents are on their third group of children.
It's a tremendous emotional battle. The issue of grandparents raising grandchildren as well as other kin such as aunts, uncles and cousins has gained wider public acknowledgment, as cities, counties and states grapple with the needs of caregivers who may be themselves elderly, on fixed incomes or living in poverty. UCCE Alameda County has worked with grandparents who raise grandchildren since the early 1990s, when Oakland became one of the first public agencies in California to respond to the issue. UCCE worked with the city on a demonstration project, then on its own and without specific programmatic funds began offering workshops, cosponsoring conferences, conducting research and prioritizing needs. An indefatigable advocate for grandparents, Blackburn is providing technical assistance to the California Coalition of Grandparents and Relative Caregivers to establish a nonprofit organization, which could apply for program funding and advocate more effectively.