Beth Tucker

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"The KKONA program is truly in line with the mission of the cooperative extension," Tucker said. "The mission is to provide education, advocacy, and support. KKONA provides strong educational programs to help grandparents get what they need to make their grandchildren's lives better."

"Many grandparents and other relative caregivers do not know what their rights are concerning the children and are reluctant to seek assistance," she said. "And can you imagine if 11 of the 15 people on our original advisory board were reluctant to talk about raising their grandchildren, how reluctant grandparents are about seeking assistance?

"We held our first annual conference for relatives raising children in 2003," Tucker said. "Fifty or 60 people across northern Arizona attended. There were some grandparents there, but it was mostly agency representatives. Our last conference was mostly grandparents."

Mary was raising three grandchildren. The children participated in the reduced lunch program at school. Then one day, Mary received a notice from the school district stating that she didn't qualify for the program and was presented with a $300 bill for meals.

The children still were fed lunch — peanut butter sandwiches, which all the other school children knew, meant that someone hadn't paid their share for the reduced lunch program.

Mary turned to KKONA, was directed to the agencies that could help her and she did end up qualifying for the reduced lunch program. She also did not have to pay the $300.

In Coconino County, 24.1 percent of all families with children under the age of 5 live below the poverty line, and 55.7 percent of female headed households with children under 5 are living below the poverty level, according to the 2000 census.

"We have found that grandparents raising grandchildren cross all ethnicities and economic classes," Tucker said. "Child Protective Services would rather place a child with a relative than in a foster home. It's better for the children to be raised by a relative.

"We also have found that a number of grandparents give up on raising their grandchildren. We don't know if it is because of financial reasons, a grandparent health issue, or a grandchild health issue. There are 50 to 60 children percent of children in KKONA that have a disability of some type. We need to find out what can be done to really ratchet up support. We're currently looking for funding to study what causes a grandparent to give up."

KKONA has grown since 2002 when it assisted eight families. In 2004, 184 adults and children attended support groups to give families' peer-to-peer help. In 2002, there was one support group. Today, there are five, and other communities across northern Arizona are interested in forming their own support groups. There were 135 participants in workshops that attract grandparents and kin who need new skills and information in areas such as legal issues, anger management, parenting a second time, and grandparent family assets. In 2005, 450 grandparents and 319 grandchildren participated in KKONA programs.

Tommy had lived with his great-aunt since he was an infant. When he was 5, his biological father returned and demanded custody of the boy. The great-aunt knew the boy would be moving to an unhealthy, abusive environment, but at that time, she didn't have a legal leg to stand on. KKONA pointed her in the right direction and she was able to win legal custody of the boy.

KKONA also developed a Grandparent Mentor Volunteer Program to help grandparents with individual support. Grandparents have successfully gotten custody, secured health insurance, and found other services because of these mentor assistance grandparents. The mentoring program was featured at a national conference in Boston.

Grandparent volunteers are trained to mentor other grandparents. Mentors must have had experience raising grandchildren, not just because they want to volunteer. Volunteers find other ways to assist by filling out paperwork or going to court with grandparents.

One hundred seventeen children and grandparents attended social events such as barbecues or bowling nights. These events are the first entry points for many grandparents who may be reluctant to join ongoing KKONA programs.

Another recently added facet of KKONA is family respite, which gives family members a chance to take a day off to go see a movie or get their nails done — something that they can do for themselves.

"As the result of one Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Simulation workshop, state and local agency personnel found the amount of paperwork for grandparents excessive," she said. "They were surprised to learn that departments misunderstood how to provide effective customer service to grandparents.

"To make changes, we have to change the system," Tucker said. "Change is hard in any system, but we are starting to see some of those changes take place."