Show Notes:

Episode 14 looks at the issue of grandparents raising their grandchildren.

That list of grandchildren includes former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, comedians Carol Burnett and Jamie Foxx, and musicians Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson and 50 Cent (U.S. Grandparents Are Raising Millions of Kids, and It's Tough | Health News | US News).

Across the United States today, grandparents are raising almost 3 million children (U.S. Grandparents Are Raising Millions of Kids, and It's Tough | Health News | US News)

With approximately 1/3 of those children relying solely on their grandparents for support (23 Statistics on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren – Father Matters).

Only 11% of grandparents are raising their grandkids because of the death of one or both of that child’s parents. (23 Statistics on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren – Father Matters).

Drug addiction, especially to opioids, is the reason most grandparents are raising their grandchildren (Why More Grandparents Are Raising Children | The Pew Charitable Trusts (pewtrusts.org)).

Lisa Holliday, a grandmother who is raising her granddaughter, is today’s guest.

Lisa founded helpinggrandparents.com because when she stepped in to help her grandchild, she found few resources available for grandparents. She doesn’t want that for other grandparents who experience similar difficult times.

She has a Facebook group by the same name and offers a virtual support group to grandparents across the globe.
Facebook: Helping Grandparents
Werehelpinggrandparents@gmail.com

Three books she recommends (all copy from Amazon descriptions):

The Grandfamily Guidebook: Wisdom and Support for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Paperback – August 28, 2018
by Andrew Adesman (Author), Christine Adamec (Author)

Are you one of nearly 3 million grandparents across North America raising your grandchildren as part of a grandfamily? You may have done all this parenting stuff before, but times have changed since you raised your own kids, and you likely never thought you’d be raising kids again.

What has led to all these family issues and the growing need for grandparents to step up? Now more than ever, substance use and addiction have made many birth parents simply unfit for the job, whether the problem is alcohol, opioids, or other drugs. Family dynamics might also be undermined by parents’ mental health or medical problems, incarceration, or a simple lack of preparedness for family responsibilities. Whatever the reason for your new role, you must now help your grandchildren adjust to their extended family as part of their everyday life, through the best care you are able to provide. While your new role means that you will likely have to change the way you live, the kinship care you provide your grandchildren might make all the difference in the world.

In The Grandfamily Guidebook—which leading medical experts have called a “must-have” resource for grandparents raising grandchildren—authors Andrew Adesman, MD, and Christine Adamec offer expert medical advice, helpful insights gleaned from other grandparents, and data mined from the 2016 Adesman Grandfamily Study—the broadest and most diverse research study of its kind to date. You’ll also find hands-on tips you’ll be able to reference whenever you need them, including how to cope with difficult birth parents, school issues and social-life challenges, problem behaviors that stem from a difficult past, and your own self-care.

Starting with its foreword by the renowned Dr. William Sears, across this book you will find practical, inspiring help as you navigate the financial impacts, legal considerations, and medical issues that commonly arise when grandparents and grandchildre...