More than 62,000 Arizonans are raising their grandchildren. Often grandparents encounter barriers to education because they are not the legal guardian or foster parent.
In addition, they often take in their grandchildren unexpectedly. All of this can make it difficult when it comes to school.
National nonprofit Generations United came out with its 2024 State of Grandfamilies report highlighting some of these challenges — and opportunities.
Victoria Gray is a Phoenix-based kinship advocate. She also raised several of her own grandchildren.
"We have grandparents, great-grandparents, they're in their 70s and 80s and computers are very foreign to them," explained Gray in a Zoom call. "And so when you say you have to register online, they're lost."
Eliminate the barriers when possible
Technology is something Michael Robert, the superintendent of the Osborne School District, has had to tackle at his schools.
"If they don't know how to use it, we can get our front office staff to come out there, sit right next to them and help them fill it out. Or even better, here, just fill out our old paper version, we’ll input it all into the computer when you’re done," Robert said.
He also talked about using more inclusive language, and pointed to Clarendon School as an example.
"A lot of times, we have things like ‘Bring Your Parents to School Day.’ ... They are celebrating 'Bring your Special Person to School Day.' So using non-exclusionary language, language that celebrates the diversity of all of our family situations."
Robert says grandparents also may face legal barriers when it comes to enrollment, if they are not the legal guardian or foster parent.
"If the parent is able to get there, sometimes we'll just have a piece of paper right there. Let's write a note right now giving grandma and grandpa the authority to be able to come in here and make these decisions. We'll fill that out. We've got all of our front office administrative assistants and a few people here at the district that are notaries," Robert said.
Key findings from the 2024 report
- Exclusion from Critical Services: Many grandfamily children face legal and systemic obstacles that hinder school enrollment, special education support, and participation in school activities.
- Impact of Trauma on Learning: Nearly all children in grandfamilies have experienced trauma before coming into their relative’s care, leading to increased behavioral challenges and learning difficulties.
- Inequitable Access to Resources: Children in these families often lack access to technology, mental health services, and other essential resources, exacerbating their educational challenges.
Recommendations for Action: The report calls for comprehensive strategies to support kinship and grandfamilies by addressing educational and resource inequities:
Policy recommendations:
- Information Distribution: Require schools to create and implement plans to regularly share information about available services for kinship families during enrollment and through ongoing outreach.
- Kinship Navigator Programs: Support the expansion and sustained funding of kinship navigator programs that connect caregivers to public benefits, legal services, and mental health support. Federal funding should be allocated to help states, tribes, and community organizations develop and evaluate these programs based on evidence-based standards.
- Financial and Basic Needs Support: Advocate for broader investments in equitable supports for kinship families, including a caregivers’ tax credit, enhanced access to programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), foster care maintenance payments, housing, nutrition assistance, healthcare, respite care, childcare, and transportation.
- Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network: Continue funding the national technical assistance center that helps improve cross-system collaboration and support services for kinship/grandfamilies, fostering greater coordination between agencies. Research on Kinship/Grandfamilies Educational Outcomes: Support a national research study of educational outcomes for children in kinship/grandfamilies, including collecting data that can be disaggregated by race and socio-economic status.
Practice recommendations:
- Partnerships with Schools: Encourage kinship navigator programs to build strong relationships with schools to facilitate referrals and ensure both caregivers and schools are informed about laws and policies related to educational access.
- Title I Fund Allocation: Encourage Title I schools (those with high poverty rates) to engage kinship families in decision-making processes about how federal and local funding should be used to support tailored services.
- Schools as Support Hubs: Position schools as central hubs for providing wraparound services, ensuring all children, including those in kinship care, arrive at school prepared to learn and thrive.
