As families continue to fragment, the number of children living in kinship care arrangements--care provided by family members other than the biological parents--is on the rise. These caregivers are most often grandmothers, who tend to be poor and in need of social services. These grandmother caregivers are also predominantly African-American, meaning that they often battle racial and cultural prejudices in their fight to obtain such services.

To explore the experiences of grandmother caregivers attempting to utilize social services, Dr. Gibson recruited 12 grandmother or great-aunt caregivers for interview sessions designed to elicit information on the barriers these women face in obtaining assistance from social service agencies. Participants all cared for a child or children of color whose parents were not present in the household, and they ranged in age from 42 to 71 with a mean age of 55.

Participants were asked to not only discuss perceived barriers to obtaining social services but also share lessons learned about social service agencies, including recommendations for navigating these systems. Dr. Gibson found that slow service, arcane rules, and extensive paperwork all discourage grandmothers from obtaining social services, particularly because workers may require presentation of birth, medical, or education records that a grandmother may not have due to inability to locate the biological parents. Attitudes of social service workers were also a barrier; participants described workers as often rude and unhelpful. These findings confirm previous studies, which also found that system rules and worker behavior are primary barriers to obtaining social services.

This study also explored a new area: personal factors preventing grandmothers from accessing services. Grandmothers were surprisingly self-reflective about difficulties in obtaining services, and understood that barriers may include their reluctance to seek help due to shame or fear; lack of time to spend on obtaining services; reluctance to sacrifice personal privacy to obtain services; and lack of proper documentation. Participants' hints to other grandmother caregivers included advice to maintain patience or faith in a higher power; to bring important records and documents to interviews; and to project a respectful yet assertive demeanor during meetings with social service personnel.

Implications for Social Work

As it is likely that the incidence of grandmother-provided and other kinship care arrangements will increase as family dynamics continue to change, it is imperative that social workers work within their systems to craft policies and procedures that recognize and accommodate the differences between grandmother caregivers and biological parents. Grandparents are not parents and should not be expected to shoulder the entire financial burden of raising grandchildren.

In the meantime, social workers should make an effort to understand the unique situations of grandmother clients applying for social services and help them obtain important records from biological parents. Agencies can assist by providing training on cultural sensitivity and reducing worker stress through additional vacation time or reduced caseloads. Grandmother caregivers provide an important social service by assuming responsibility for the care of their grandchildren, and social service agencies need to become more willing and able to assist them in this endeavor.

Posted on December 2, 2003