Facts about Grandparents Raising Grandchildren and Relatives Caring for Relative Children
In the San Diego region, of the 72,000 older adults living with their grandchildren, approximately 22,000 are primarily responsible for their grandchildren’s daily needs. Grandparents raising their grandchildren reside throughout our region, and come from all walks of life, ethnicities and income levels. These families are often called grandfamilies.
Handbook for Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Children
If you are a grandparent or relative raising children and you need assistance finding or navigating resources in your community, start by downloading the Handbook for Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Children below:
According to the AARP, in the United States more than 7.8 million children are living in homes where the grandparents and other relatives are the householders, with more than 5.8 million children living in the grandparents' homes and nearly 2 million children living in other relatives' homes. Often they assume this responsibility with neither of the children’s parents present in the home. In fact, nearly 1 million children are living in homes where the grandparent is the householder and neither parent is present in the home.
These grandparent and other relative caregivers and the children they are raising are often isolated. They lack information about the range of support services, resources, programs, benefits, laws and policies available to help them successfully fulfill their caregiving role.
If you find that you still need assistance, please contact one of the agencies below:
Provides case management, respite services, and other supportive services to Grandparent caregivers who are caring full time for a child in their family. These caregivers may serve as short-term or long-term primary caregivers for children whose own parents are unable to care for them. These children are placed in the caregivers' home formally by juvenile court and probate court or informally through a family arrangement. For more information, please call 1-877-YMCA-4-KIN (9622-4546) or visit: http://yfs.ymca.org/programs/kinship-support-services.html
Provides services to grandparents who are the primary caregiver for a child. Services include case management and assessment to help caregivers develop a plan for accessing community services, including respite care, personal care, homemaker and chore services, and home-delivered meals. Offers information about counseling and support groups. Also provides skills training for caregivers. For more information, please call the AIS call center at (800) 510-2020 or visit: www.sdcounty.ca.gov/hhsa/programs/ais/caregiver_support/index.html
Serves as a single access point information and referral system for San Diego County, connecting anyone to available health services in a timely, compassionate and efficient manner. To receive assistance navigating through the Healthcare services, dial 2-1-1 and Press "3" for health related assistance or for more information, visit: http://211sandiego.org/healthcarenavigation
Disclaimer: Laws change and are subject to different interpretations. These links are not intended as legal advice in any particular situation.
Staying Informed
For additional local community resources in your area, search our online database or click on the topics on the right of this page.
Helpful Local Community Resources
Calling 2-1-1 for Support
2-1-1 San Diego is a 24/7 stigma-free and confidential phone service dedicated to connecting people with community, health, and disaster services. When you call 2-1-1 San Diego, you are connected with a highly trained Client Service Representative (CSR) who can navigate the complex system, prescreen you for possible program and benefit eligibility, and connect you to the best military or veterans resources and benefit information based on branch of service, status of service including veterans and active duty, and by category, such as behavioral health, education and employment, and financial assistance.
