Report on Research | Summer 2006

More Information

Beth K. Tucker
Director of Coconino County Cooperative Extension
928-774-1868

Kinship Care Workshop CD
1-877-763-5315
Web site

Kinship Kare of Northern Arizona

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

Impact Review of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

By Gary Fox
Michele Lytle was teaching a class on parenting in Flagstaff. One of her attendees was an elderly woman, not the typical student in a parenting class. Lytle asked her once for whom she was taking parenting class, and the woman replied that she was just helping out her daughter.

The woman faithfully attended the weekly classes. However, every once in awhile, the woman would call Lytle and say, "I won't be in class tonight. I just cannot do one more thing today.

"It turned out this woman was raising her granddaughter on her own," Lytle said. "It had been a number of years since her own children had grown and moved on, and she was taking the class as a way to provide the best care she could for her granddaughter."

That woman's dedication sparked a question in Lytle: How many other grandparents were raising grandchildren?

KKONA Offers Workshop Tool Kit on CD

The University of Arizona, Coconino Extension, and Kinship Kare of Northern Arizona have created a tool kit on compact disc for agencies conducting workshops.

The simulation workshop offers agencies that interact and serve grandparents the opportunity to experience the realistic issues and challenges of grandparent households.

The CD contains more than 100 pages of material for planning, replicating and hosting a Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Simulation for organizations or communities. The disc is grouped into four sections including Organizers Materials, Orientation Session, Workshop Materials, and Bibliography/Evaluation templates.

Family profiles, which were reviewed for authenticity by KKONA grandparent mentors, present eight multi-cultural family profiles that include grandchildren, grandparents, and other caregivers. Workshop participants give up their professional roles to become one of the families profiled. The "made up" families then discuss actions and gather resources to improve the family's situation. The workshop takes a recommended six hours to experience and process.

Call CALSmart, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, at 1-877-763-5315 to order a CD for $25, or go to Web site for online ordering information.