Legal Guide for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

Sunday, April 05, 2009 05:10 AM

Prince George, B.C.- Monday will see a special legal guide launched in Prince George.

The New Legal Guide for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren is the outcome of a 20 month joint legal research project by Parent Support Services Society of BC and the University of Victoria, School of Social Work. The Guide was developed with the input of grandparents, social workers, service providers, advocates, lawyers, and judges, and with funding from the Law Foundation and three Provincial Ministries.

“Grandparents we surveyed told us they needed good legal information, because the legal options they face are complex and confusing,” says Barb Whittington, project co-chair. Roz Parker, a grandmother who has raised her 8 year old grandson since he was 18 months old, agrees. “I would have loved access to a resource like this Guide,” she says, “I did not know the right legal steps to take to protect myself and my grandson. I didn’t know what questions I needed to ask, or what many of the legal terms meant.” Project co-chair Carol Ross, thinks the Legal Guide will also be a useful resource for the social and legal service providers who assist grandparents. “They find the legal options confusing too,” she says, “Many grandparents reported getting conflicting advice, or advice which later proved to be wrong.”

Grandparents raising grandchildren are a growing phenomenon. Grandparents become the primary caregivers to their grandchildren for reasons such as the death of a parent, family breakdown, physical or mental illness, or addictions.

According to Statistics Canada, in 2006 there were more than 65,000 children being raised by grandparents across the nation, without any parental involvement. Nearly 50% of these family situations involved only one grandparent. In BC alone, the 2006 census indicated there were 9,940 children under eighteen years being raised by grandparents, and two thirds of the grandparents in these households were women. “That is more than the number of children in B.C. foster care,” notes Barb Whittington.

Monday's launch at the Bob Harkins Library ( 11:00 a.m.) will celebrate and acknowledge the valuable contributions grandparents make to their grandchildren and their communities at large.

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