Supporting Grandfamilies During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Federal Flexibility and New Funding

Authors

Ana Beltran, Generations UnitedFollow

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has elevated and heightened the challenges and inequities that grandfamilies face. Unlike parents, with automatic legal rights and responsibilities to the children, grandfamily caregivers are often left to navigate systems that impact them but do not understand them. Federal response to the pandemic began by perpetuating these existing challenges. The CARES Act failed to explicitly name grandfamilies for system support, and they and those who work with them had to individually advocate in local communities. Later in the response efforts, federal legislation specifically called out supports for grandfamilies by providing unique federal funding flexibilities for kinship navigator programs and by funding the first ever National Technical Assistance Center on Grandfamilies and Kinship Families. This new Center and the ongoing work of the Federal Advisory Council to Support Grandparents Raising Grandchildren present promising opportunities for holistically improving the systems of support for grandfamilies.

Recommended Citation

Beltran, A. (2022). Supporting Grandfamilies During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Federal Flexibility and New Funding. GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy, 7 (1).
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/grandfamilies/vol7/iss1/10