INFORMATION FOR FAMILIES

National Data                                                           
  • In 2007, more than six million children in the United States (approximately 1 in 12) were living in households headed by grandparents (4.5 million children) or other relatives (1.5 million children). In approximately 2.4 million homes, grandparents or other relatives had assumed the primary responsibility for the children’s basic care, food and shelter, often without either parent present in the home and without legal custody. These so called “skipped generation grandfamilies,” with one or more children younger than age 18, numbered about 640,000 nationwide, with the number of children in the families remaining constant between 2005 and 2007 at about one million.
  • Compared to parent-headed households, skipped generation grandfamilies face greater challenges in many areas. One in five of these children were living below the poverty line (i.e., double the child poverty rate in parent-child families) and many caregivers were on fixed incomes, although only 30% received any public financial assistance. Grandparent caregivers are more likely to live in poverty and to be uninsured than grandparents not raising grandchildren. Nearly half face housing cost burdens, significantly more than is the case with parent-child families. Further, nearly one-third of grandparent householders have not completed high school (compared to one eighth of parents in parent-child families).
  • Research on the health of children being raised by grandparents indicates that they have higher rates of physical, mental, and emotional problems than other children, often due to the same issues that resulted in separation from their parents. Approximately one in seven of these children ages five to 17 have a disability compared to one in 16 children in parent-headed households.
  •  A significant subset of children being raised by grandparents are those with incarcerated parents. A survey conducted by Arkansas Voices in 2004-2006 indicated that 1/3 to 1/2 of 1025 kinship caregivers cited incarceration of a parent as the reason why they were raising their relative’s children. Many studies have demonstrated a strong relationship between parental criminality and the risk of youth developing emotional and behavioral problems. A study of adolescents with emotional and behavioral problems conducted by the University of Arkansas and Duke University found that a history of parental incarceration was associated with a significantly higher incidence of exposure to risk factors during their lifetimes and significantly higher rates of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorders.

Arkansas Data
  • Ongoing evaluations of Arkansas Voices programs have reported varied mental health diagnosesamong children who evidenced clinically significant scores on the Child Behavior Checklist (behavior problems at home and at school, school failure, and juvenile delinquency) and the Internalizing/Externalizing scales. While the majority of the children served have not exhibited clinically significant mental health disorders, the children Arkansas Voices referred for mental health services were diagnosed with depression, anxiety disorders, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), and other conduct disorders. The remaining children often exhibited sadness, anger, grief, and displays of emotional pain directly related to the loss and shame associated with having a parent in prison – feelings that are often significant determinants of health and mental health for both the children and their family members.
  •  The health of kinship caregivers, regardless of health insurance status, often suffers as a consequence of the strain of becoming “unexpected parents,” resulting in a variety of stress-related chronic health problems. The Arkansas Voices 2007 annual report to the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services, indicated that the most common health issues reported by caregivers – present over an 18-month period in more than 70% of caregivers aged 49 to 80 years (58 respondents) – were chronic tiredness and depression, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. Additionally, less than half of these caregivers reported undergoing the typically advised health screenings (e.g., occult blood, breast self-exams or mammograms, cholesterol levels, etc.), frequently citing lack of time as the reason. Kinship caregivers often face a further deepening of poverty, food insecurity, and a sense of inadequacy and hopelessness associated with inability to protect and provide for the child or children, for whom they have questionable legal responsibility.
  •  In the United States, “the increasing number of children of incarcerated parents constitutes perhaps one of the largest at risk populations.” They face extraordinarily difficult life circumstances and have few educational opportunities, often coupled with illiterate or functionally illiterate parents and/or caregivers. Many of the incarcerated parents and kinship caregivers served by Arkansas Voices are low literate or illiterate, and they hand down this intergenerational legacy of low literacy to the children in their care. These families are among the poorest, least educated, and least served demographics in the state.
  •  Census 2000 data indicated that 7.4% of Arkansas children (50,286) were being cared for by grandparents, with another 1.7% (11,881) living in households headed by other relatives. Among these two groups, 4.4% (30,111) were living there without either parent present. Out of 33,618 grandparents who reported that they were responsible for grandchildren living with them, 45% were raising their grandchildren in parent-absent households, and 22% lived in poverty. An estimate of statewide survey data compiled by Arkansas Voices in 2004-2006 suggested that about 100,000 Arkansas children were being cared for by their grandparent(s) or other relatives due to their parents’ incarceration, mental illness, drug addiction, domestic violence, and/or abandonment. Further, only about 2,000 of these grandparents reported receiving Transitional Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) payments of $81 a month for one child and significantly less for additional children (for a total of approximately 7,200 Arkansas children receiving a TANF subsidy as a child-only case). The Arkansas TANF child-only payments have not changed since 1996.