Grandfamilies: The Growing Trend of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

While beneficial for children, kinship care can pose considerable financial, legal, and emotional challenges for caregivers. Research has shown that kinship caregivers go to great lengths to meet the needs of the relative children, however, their efforts often come at the expense of their own personal care. Social support contributes to caregivers’ ability to provide a nurturing environment for the children in their care and ultimately leads to better outcomes for children.

There are several support groups for relatives raising children throughout Kentucky. These support groups go by many different names, and meet at different places, but they all share the same goal; to support kinship families.

The Jackson County Kinship Support Group has a mission goal that includes empowering the voice of kinship needs, to advocate to remove barriers, and to connect kinship support through networking.
The next meeting of the group will be on Tuesday, January 27th, 2026 at the Jackson County Public Library. The meeting starts at 12:00 PM.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
In Kentucky, a significant number of families involve grandparents raising grandchildren, with estimates suggesting around 55,000 children live in kinship care (often grandparents), making Kentucky's rate among the highest nationally. Data from around 2022 showed over 51,000 grandparents living with and responsible for grandchildren, with many facing financial challenges, highlighting the prevalence of these "grandfamilies" in the state.

High Kinship Care Rate: Kentucky has historically led the nation in the percentage of children raised by relatives, with recent data indicating about 9% of children lived with relatives (double the national rate) between 2016-2018.

Significant Numbers: Around 55,000 children in Kentucky are in kinship care, with grandparents being the primary caregivers.

Demographics: A large majority of these grandparent caregivers are women, and many struggle with poverty.

Why It Matters:

Substance Abuse & Incarceration: High rates are often linked to the opioid epidemic and parental incarceration, leading grandparents to step in to keep children out of foster care.

Strain on Grandparents: These families often face financial hardship, food insecurity, and challenges accessing services, despite their crucial role.
As more children find stability with their grandparents, seniors face unique challenges and seek community support. Across the United States, a rising number of grandparents are stepping in to raise their grandchildren—a family structure often called "grandfamilies" or kinship care. This shift is largely driven by increasing issues among parents, including substance abuse, incarceration, illness, and even untimely death. While these arrangements can offer children much-needed stability, they present significant hurdles for the seniors involved.

Why Grandparents Are Stepping In
Many grandparents assume caregiving roles due to difficult circumstances affecting the children's parents. Common reasons include parental addiction or overdose, incarceration, military deployment, death, serious illness, or disability. Other contributing factors can be divorce, neglect, or teenage pregnancy. In each case, grandparents often become the primary source of security and continuity for vulnerable children.

The Challenges of Grandparent Caregivers
Taking on parenting responsibilities at an advanced age brings emotional and practical difficulties. Grandparents frequently grapple with grief, depression, and loneliness, particularly as they mourn their own child's hardships. The financial burden can be considerable—covering costs for food, diapers, and childcare may stretch fixed incomes and lead to debt. Many also experience a loss of independence, trading leisure, travel, and social connections for full-time caregiving.

Role reversal is a common theme, as grandparents transition from the traditional supportive role to that of the primary disciplinarian. This shift requires learning new parenting strategies. Many also feel isolated, finding it difficult to relate to typical parent or grandparent groups.

Types of Kinship Care
Grandfamily arrangements vary. Some grandparents provide regular day-care, while others live with their grandchildren without formal legal custody. In custodial arrangements, grandparents may obtain legal responsibility, sometimes as an emergency measure. Formal kinship foster care, licensed by the state, offers payments and support services but requires training and ongoing oversight.

Support and Resources Are Essential
Recognizing the challenges faced by grandfamilies, organizations such as Generations United and AARP offer a range of resources, advocacy, and tools designed to help. Legal assistance is available for those seeking custody, subsidized guardianships, or kinship care licensing. In formal foster care arrangements, financial aid can help grandparents cover child-rearing expenses. Community support groups and local resources are also crucial for stress management and building connections.

As the trend of grandfamilies continues to grow, experts emphasize the importance of robust community networks and policy support to ensure that both children and their grandparent caregivers have the resources and assistance they need for a stable, healthy life.