You are not alone if you are one of the staggering numbers of grandparents who are raising their grandchildren! Are you confused by the generational gaps, challenging communications, and tough questions like, “Why are my parents so old? Why is my father in jail? Why doesn’t my mother show up to visit when she promised?” The Sacred Work of Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren is the first book that contains answers and stories to address these unique issues and challenges—from one grandparent to another. You’ll enjoy the practical suggestions on how grandchildren can manage and solve some of their own problems, while learning how to cope with your own distinctive life challenges. As a parenting grandparent, a kinship caregiver, a teacher, or a social service worker, you must read this book for invaluable insight. No other book takes on the complex challenges that parenting grandparents face with such depth and truth. How relieved and grateful you’ll be for the inspiration, knowledge and wisdom by the time you reach the conclusion! “Through the stories told by grandparents themselves, Elaine K. Williams reveals the challenges, commitment, and love experienced by grandparents raising their grandchildren. This book not only provides understanding and helpful information, but will also touch the hearts of all who read it.” —Sandy P., a grandparent who raised a grandchild “I’ve waited five years for this wonderful author, Elaine K. Williams, to complete her groundbreaking gathering of knowledge from three generations so that we can clearly see the patterns of grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. The most important points are to help grandparents understand the dynamics of the emotional and behavioral challenges their grandchildren face, and the impactful trauma that all generations experience. She brings the keys of caring, connection, and communication forward to assist families to heal. Highly recommended.” —Dr. Caron Goode, EdD, NCC, author of the award-winning book Raising Intuitive Children

"The study, in particular, was designed to examine the grandmothers' thoughts and feelings about their relationships with their substance abusing adult children. Additionally, the knowledge gained from these relationships was used to try to understand why these grandmothers take on the responsibility of caring for their grandchildren when their life plans may not have included this care-taking function at this current age or stage."--Publisher/Back cover.

Grandparents have long played important roles in the lives of their adult children and their grandchildren in our own as well as in many other cultures. Yet it has only been in the last 3 or 4 decades that grandparents have received the kind of academic scrutiny that other family members--especially mothers--have been receiving a century or more. This groundbreaking collection has targeted the essence of what occurs in the context of grandparents' efforts at parenting their grandchildren as well as the nature of these interactions. Indeed, grandparent's views on the adequacy of their parenting skills and the nature of their relationships with their grandchildren are at the heart of many of the difficulties and satisfactions associated with the resumption of the parenting role in middle and later life, and are of central importance in the lives and well-being of both custodial grandparents and their grandchildren. The volume, which will be of vital interest to family counselors, mental health practitioners, educators, school counselors, social workers, psychologists, and social service providers, approaches this issue from novel theoretical perspectives, presents new empirical data, and provides valuable suggestions for therapists who are treating grandparent-grandchild dyads. It is methodologically diverse, relying upon case studies, empirical findings, and national datasets. Additionally, it incorporates longitudinal work, which has been absent in research with grandparent caregivers to date. Most importantly, it defines new areas of understanding of custodial grandparents that are relevant to both researchers and practitioners, e.g., dealing with grief and loss, a focus on grandchildren, the interactional style of caregiving, parenting education, intergenerational ambivalence, and therefore, should provide fertile ground for work regarding these issues which are so central to the lives of custodial grandparents and their grandchildren. Highlighted coverage includes: Intergenerational relationships/intergenerational transmission of values and their implications for parenting among custodial grandparents the adjustments custodial grandchildren must make in the school system, viewed from the perspective of school personnel (an assistant principal and school counselor) the experiences/perceptions of adult children raised by their grandparents- impact on relationships with grandparents and the parenting of their own children the role of the adult parent in the context of grandparents raising grandchildren Each of these chapters will be written from an applied, practitioner perspective and stress the clinical implications of each issue.

A practical and supportive manual containing a 14-session workshop designed to help grandparents who are raising their grandchildren alone, written by a social services professor at Fordham University. Intended to be used by group leaders teaching a workshop, themes covered may be expanded or revised to fit the needs of a particular work group.

"This volume contains research and theory-based discussions of the new phenomenon of grandparents raising their grandchildren. Clinically-oriented chapters explore cultural differences; the management of physical and psychological difficulties; clinical, legal, and service-related topics surrounding those limitations; and policy-sensitive issues involved in surrogate parenting."--Cover.

This authoritative book serves as an invaluable resource for policy advocates, program planners, and service delivery agents. It provides an overview of the major pieces of legislation that currently impact the field of aging, and the lives of older adults; addresses the philosophical, historical, and demographic challenges that they face; and lays out tools that facilitate policy and program development to include the media, coalition building, the use of an evidence base, and health promotion strategies. Jurkowski also examines major service areas for older adults, and how each major mandated program addresses these programs and services--a must for the program planner or a service delivery setting. The book is also extremely helpful to graduate students in social work, public health, and gerontology, building their understanding of policy development through a critical analysis and review of policy frameworks, and promotes development of skills in shaping programs and implementing policy. Unlike other books in this field, Policy and Program Planning for Older Adults focuses on triangulating skills, policies, and programs for the reader, and blends a social welfare and public health approach to the text's conceptual design. Instructor's Guide Now Available! An Instructor's Manual for this textbook is available for those professors who have adopted Policy and Program Planning for Older Adults and can verify a bookstore order of 7 or more copies. Please email our Marketing Department at marketing@springerpub.com if you have adopted this text as you will need a password to download the guide. Please provide the name and telephone number of the bookstore that ordered the textbooks.A print version of the Instructor's Manual is also available.

This briefs offers a comprehensive view of the journey of grandparents of children with disabilities by employing a wide range of theoretical approaches such as intergenerational relationships, positive psychology, psychoanalytic views and models of stress. It presents a multidimensional view of grandparents, which begins with the general role of grandparents in the family and the transition to grandparenthood, as a major life event. The briefs moves on to discuss grandparents’ roles under unique circumstances such as illness or disability in the family and then deals with perspectives of parents of children with disabilities on the role of grandparents. Finally, it reviews attitudes of professionals toward grandparents and concludes with suggested intervention strategies for working with families on intergenerational relationships.

There’s a quiet epidemic in our culture: The fastest-growing type of family unit is grandparents charged with the task of raising their children’s children. Though there are myriad reasons for this—the death of one’s adult child, parental drug addiction, abusive living situations, or incarceration, to name a few—the effects tend to be the same: Senior citizens who expected to spend their golden years relaxing or traveling are now seeing their dreams dashed. Those on limited incomes are feeling the strain and are frightened about their futures. And the mental, spiritual, and physical exhaustion of parenting and disciplining children many decades their junior, exacerbated by a technology gap, is overwhelmingly real. And yet, through their sacrificial service, these seniors are acting as kinsman-redeemers for their grandchildren—keeping them out of the foster care system and giving them the best shot possible for a successful life. In When Grandparents Become Parents, experienced author Rick Johnson details both the challenges and solutions these heroic seniors face, offering strategies and resources (including real advice from other grandparents) to deal with major areas of stress—incorporating humor, common sense, and practical advice along the way.

When a parent or parental figure is diagnosed with an illness, the family unit changes and clinical providers should consider using a family-centered approach to care, and not just focus on the patient coping with the illness. Helping Children and Families Cope with Parental Illness describes theoretical frameworks, common parental illnesses and their course, family assessment tools, and evidence-supported family intervention programs that have the potential to significantly reduce negative psychosocial outcomes for families and promote resilience. Most interventions described are culturally sensitive, for use with diverse populations in diverse practice settings, and were developed for two-parent, single-parent, and blended families.