For most older adults, being a grandparent means being able to dote on their grandchildren, spoil them, then send them back home with their parents. But a growing number of grandparents are raising their grandchildren and even their great-grandchildren.
Nearly 55,000 grandparents statewide (about 8,000 in Indianapolis) are raising their grandkids, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and nearly 141,000 children under the age of 18 live with their grandparents or other relatives.
Kinship care is on the rise, and it presents all sorts of challenges. CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions is sponsoring a lecture from 9 to 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 29 to help break down some of the issues and provide information on resources available. It is part of CICOA’s four-part Envision Lecture series and will take place at CICOA, 8440 Woodfield Crossing Blvd., Ste. 175, Indianapolis.
Sharon Pierce, president and CEO of The Villages of Indiana, will talk about the support a kinship caregiver needs.
“Kinship caregivers and families come in all varieties,” Pierce said. “We have older siblings as kinship caregivers and so many grandparents – particularly grandmothers – and they need support to be able to do that.”
Sloan Shockley, senior and mobile pantry programs managers at Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, said she’s worked with an 89-year-old great-grandmother caring for a toddler.
Shockley will talk about the impact of multi-generational households, which is increasing in the Indianapolis area. They often face legal issues, educational challenges, food security and more.
The discussion is open to the public and is the third in a four-part Envision Lecture Series CICOA is sponsoring in 2019. The cost to attend is $10 and students are free. To register, go to cicoa.org/events/envision.
About CICOA
CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions is a nonprofit organization and the designated Aging and Disability Resource Center serving Central Indiana. CICOA provides a wide range of services for older adults, people with disabilities and family caregivers, including care management, home health care, home-delivered and neighborhood meals, transportation, home accessibility modifications, respite care and caregiver assistance. For more information, go to CICOA.org.