When the contestants
on “Dancing With the Stars” recently performed routines representing the most
memorable year of their lives, Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles
brought down the house dancing to the worship song “Good Good Father” to
celebrate the year her grandparents became her Mom and Dad. During last
summer’s Olympics many viewers became familiar with her story and her proud
parents Ron and Nellie Biles, who adopted Simone and her sister from foster care
when Simone was six. Before her dance Simone said, “Growing up, my biological
mom was suffering from drug and alcohol abuse and she was in and out of jail. I
never had mom to run to. I do remember always being hungry and afraid . . . My
parents saved me. They’ve set huge examples of how to treat other people and
they’ve been there to support me since day one. There’s nothing I can say to
them to thank them enough.”
The Biles family has
helped shine a spotlight on the importance of loving families. “Kinship care families”
or “grandfamilies” as they are sometimes called are relatives raising their
grandchildren or other kin when their parents cannot due to death, military
service, or challenges like opioid or other substance abuse, mental health
problems or domestic violence. Some children are removed from their parents’
care by the state and placed with relatives in foster care. In other cases,
children are placed informally with relatives outside of formal foster care. Relative
care helps children maintain family and often community connections. There also
is strong evidence that children placed with relatives experience greater
stability, have fewer behavioral problems, and are just as safe as children in
non-relative care. More than seven million children live in households headed
by grandparents or other relatives, and nearly 2.6 million of them are being
raised in kinship families without a parent present. They step forward to care for
the children but sometimes require financial or other help to appropriately
meet the children’s needs.
On Wednesday, May
10, hundreds of grandparent and relative caregivers will gather in Washington,
D.C. for the 5th National GrandRally: Building a Community of Hope to celebrate their critical role in providing safe, loving
and permanent families for children. They seek to educate Congress and the
broader public about essential federal policies and programs that help them care
for children and must be maintained and strengthened to support them more effectively
while building a community of hope. The Children’s Defense Fund is honored to
be cosponsoring the GrandRally with Generations United, AARP, Casey Family
Programs, FosterClub, GrandFamilies of America, and the National Kinship
Alliance for Children and more than 20 additional partners.
The
GrandRally will take place on the
front law of the U.S. Capitol and feature Members of Congress, grandparent and
other relative caregivers, children in kinship families, and others. A Second Chance
Inc. Choir from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which includes many kinship caregivers,
will return to offer thanks and celebration for the grandparents and other
relatives around the country. Michelle Singletary, who with her four siblings
was raised by her grandmother she often calls “Big Mama” in her syndicated
column “The Color of Money,” will emcee the GrandRally. After the rally,
caregivers will visit their Senators and Representatives to thank them and urge
additional support to help children in their care thrive.
The GrandRally builds and strengthens a national
network — a community of hope. For relative caregivers across the
country this is an opportunity to meet others and know they are not alone. It inspires them to
raise their powerful voices in Congress and back at home.
If
you are a grandparent or relative caregiver or know someone who is I hope you
and others from your community will join the GrandRally on May 10! I urge every
faith community, service organization and others to reach out and honor
grandparents and other relatives raising children by helping them attend the
GrandRally. If you can’t attend, help support a delegation of caregivers and
spread the word. Opal, a grandparent who attended the last GrandRally, said: “Attending
the GrandRally is not only about sharing and advocacy but about making new
friends, having fun, and bonding with those who share a common way of life. It
is a great experience from beginning to end. It’s our celebration!”
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Marian Wright Edelman is President of the Children's Defense Fund whose Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. For more information go to www.childrensdefense.org.
Mrs. Edelman's Child Watch Column also appears each week on The Huffington Post.
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