Grandparents Rally to Save a Vital Program

Margaret Stroud and Dorothy Gulley, grandmothers who are raising their grandchildren _______________________

The Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency (KIPDA), the Area Agency on Aging (AAA), offers an array of services throughout the community to the aging and the disabled population. KIPDA serves Bullitt, Henry, Jefferson, Oldham, Shelby, Spencer and Trimble counties. The Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Program is a supplemental and supportive service program administered by KIPDA that assists grandparents with the primary responsibility of raising their grandchildren.

Nationally an estimated 4.5 million grandparents report that they are caring for their grandchild without assistance from the child's parent (which represents 6.3% of children under the age of 18). This is a 30% increase from 1990 to 2000. In the state of Kentucky, an estimated 57,141 grandparents are raising their grandchild without the assistance of the child's parents (which represents 5.7% of children under the age of 18).

Margaret Stroud and KIPDA Director of Social Services Barbara Gordon spoke at the rally ________________________

Due to State budget reductions, on December 18, 2008 the Grandparent Raising Grandchildren Program was terminated. With the termination of this much needed human service program and uncertainty about whether the program termination would be indefinite, Kentucky Association of Gerontology (KAG) and AARP, advocates for grandparents' rights, rallied in Frankfort, KY in the Capitol Rotunda on February 25, 2009.  The Grandparent Rally was a communication vehicle for grandparents and advocates to ask lawmakers to reinstate cuts to the state funded program. Margaret Stroud and Dorothy Gulley, two grandparents who benefited from the program in fiscal year 09 and previous years, spoke at the rally.  Mrs. Stroud and Ms. Gulley both stated that the Grandparents Program helped them make ends meet, and without it they are struggling. The KIPDA Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Program provided services to grandparents of any age who are primarily responsible for raising

Margaret Stroud and Dorothy Gulley shared their concerns with Fox 41 and WHAS 11 News. ________________________

their grandchildren age 18 years of age and younger. A qualifying grandparent received financial assistance of up to $750 as funds were available in a fiscal year.  

Kentucky Representative Jimmy Lee, the author of the Grandparent Raising Grandchildren Program, spoke at the rally.  Rep. Lee stated that the state is actually saving money by funding the Grandparent Program. He stressed that $750 a year is very little compared to the dollars that would be spent if these children were committed to the state through the foster care system. Rep. Lee affirmed his commitment to working diligently until the Grandparent Program is restored and reinstated, never to be terminated again. The Rally was covered by Fox 41 and WHAS 11 News, and coverage of the rally and interviews with the grandparents aired on the 4:00, 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. news broadcasts.