News from Canada and Scotland

Canada

W5 aired our kinship documentary tonight. It was very well done and can be viewed online at http://www.ctv. ca/servlet/ ArticleNews/ story/CTVNews/ 20080215/ wfive_grandparen ts_080215/ 20080216? hub=WFive

W5 videos (http://www.ctv.ca/wfive Parents Again.)

Please thank Laurie Few producer of W5 for her interest and help in promoting our case by sending her an email at: lfew@ctv.ca

Parents Again Sat. Feb. 16 2008

W-FIVE

More and more grandparents in Canada find themselves raising children for a second time, but this time around they are raising their grandchildren. At least 65,000 children live with their grandparents in Canada. And most of those grandparents are raising the children on a small pension, living below the poverty line.

In Hamilton, Ontario 60-year-old Beverly McIntosh's retirement is a lot different than she imagined. That's because Beverly is raising her two grandchildren, six-year-old Austin and nine-year-old Rosina, two children are both damaged by Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. They are also two children left behind by their parents.

Beverly says she doesn't even know where her son, the children's father, is. "He was in Hamilton. I haven't seen him for three years. The mother, I haven't seen for two years. The mother has major, major issues with alcohol, drugs."

The story is not unusual as most of those children being raised by grandparents are suffering from problems. It could be attention deficit disorder or fetal alcohol syndrome or learning disabilities.

And the grandparents are doing this tough job on a tight budget. Before her grandchildren came to live with her, Beverly's house was paid off and she was living a comfortable if modest existence. Now she's had to take out a line of credit to pay her monthly bills. Her line of credit is almost exhausted. Beverly wonders what the future will bring then. Will she have to sell her house, will the government be there to give her a place to live?

Saving grandchildren is Betty Cornelius's life work. It began with her granddaughter -- Ashley. Aware of her own isolation, she decided to do something about it and organized a network with a special purpose. They call themselves Cangrands. CANGRANDS NATIONAL KINSHIP SUPPORT www.cangrands. com

According to Betty, the purpose is to "give support, education and empowerment to grandparents that are raising grandchildren that are raising grandchildren to kinship families... And really what it is, is a lot of hand holding a lot of listening... it's a hard job, it's a club nobody wanted to join."

But they do join... there are now almost 600 members with chapters across Canada. They are bound together by the tragic tales of grandchildren they have managed to save. But it hasn't been easy.

The average grandparent raising grandchildren in Canada is living on less than $15,000 a year.

As W-FIVE found out, these grandparents, who fight to keep their grandchildren out of the foster care system, are saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars but they are receiving little or no government assistance.

They'd get more help if they were taking care of a complete stranger... foster children... but take care of your own grandchild.. . and they call it welfare.

"I'm a registered foster family, it's $1,700 a month on average for my foster baby but I get $226 for my grandchild. Same government but different department. And so I call that discrimination. And it feels like punishment for our kinship families," explains Betty.

Now the Ontario government says it's got a solution -- a proposed new law called Bill 210 promising to pay these grandparents $900 a month.

But, in Toronto, critic Lynn Cunningham says there's a catch, "Anybody who already has custody of their child isn't eligible. The child involved has to be in care."

Ontario's welfare minister, Madeleine Meilleur, says it won't work like that. Grandparents already doing the job can apply, "If the courts decide that the grandparents are the best person to look after their children then they will receive this additional amount."

Money isn't the only solution and Canadians aren't the only ones struggling with the problems of raising grandchildren. In the rough neighbourhood of the Bronx, New York, there's an oasis called Grandparents Family Apartment. It's a place of refuge... a place where grandparents and grandchildren can build a new life.

The complex is one of a kind, and it's working. David Taylor is the man who came up with the idea, and built it with mostly donated money from the organization he runs called Presbyterian Senior Services.

"The 50 families came who came to this building in June of 2005 ... most of them were living in horrific conditions. Some of them were rat infested, gangs and drug infested building," says David

"The purpose of this house is to provide affordable, safe housing for grandparents raising grandchildren and also to provide an environment that children, the grandchildren can grow from and mature and become educated and be able to sort of go into the world and do their thing successfully. "

Now David Taylor is challenging governments to step up and build more. He wonders why Canadian governments couldn't do the same.

Beverly McIntosh just hopes that help comes in time. "We are in desperate need of funds to raise our grandchildren. We are saving them millions of dollars. They can give us a little bit to help." Video

Also online is video

a.. W-FIVE: Parents Again, part one 9:53

b.. W-FIVE: Parents Again, part two 9:48

CANGRANDS NATIONAL KINSHIP SUPPORT www.cangrands. com
2580 Hartsmere Road, Mc Arthurs Mills, Ontario, K0L2M0
613-474-0035 Fax 613-474-3333
Anyone wanting to make a donation to CANGRANDS and needing a receipt can do so by donating to the Salvation Army CANGRANDS conference & camp (cheques must say that)
SA CANGRANDS conference & camp Charitable #: 107951618 RR0001