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Volume 10, Issue 49
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December 9, 2015
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New Report Identified States Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
At Thursday's (Dec. 3) reception on Washington, DC's Capitol Hill, Generations United released their latest report,
The State of Grandfamilies in America: 2015
. This second edition of the annual State of Grandfamilies in America report identified key state laws and policies specifically designed to address barriers and better support the diverse and unique population of grandparents and other relatives raising children. We also honored
Senator Ron Wyden
and nationally-syndicated
Washington Post
columnist
Michelle Singletary
.
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Click the image to enlarge.
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Senator Wyden received our 2015 Grandfamilies Champion Award
and we presented Michelle with our 2015 Media Award
. The next day (Dec. 4), we held a briefing on Capitol Hill that
provided more details from the report and included presentations from caregivers, youth raised by relatives and state experts and service providers serving grandfamilies. Michael Morris, a member of our National Center on Grandfamilies Advisory Council, moderated a panel of grandparent caregivers. Check out the highlights!
Among the report findings:
- Almost 65 percent of children in kinship care families live in states with 50 percent or less of the key laws and policies that support grandfamilies.
- Our top 10 states met more than half of our criteria for grandfamily-friendly laws and policies.
- Only three states secured a passing grade (above 60 percent)
- No state scored 100 percent and had all of the laws and policies
- The top states are California, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Montana, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington.
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A Huge Thanks to Our Members and Supporters
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Help Us Promote the Best Intergenerational Communities Awards
Check out our Social Media Toolkit to help us spread the word with sample Facebook posts, tweets, and newsletter articles. We've also included logos you can use if you wish.
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Unfinished Business: Social Action in Suburbia - Long Island, NY 1945-2014
chronicles key highlights of the seventy-year time period, describing the many personal and organizational struggles and accomplishments to establish social service and social justice programs in Nassau and Suffolk Counties during an exciting and challenging time in Long Island's history. The book describes dozens of community initiatives launched on Long Island that were later replicated elsewhere in the nation. Learn more
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Culture United
Slow Way Home by Michael Morris
When his mother, Sophia, leaves him at a Raleigh bus station and sets off to find her "destiny" in Canada, eight-year-old Brandon Willard's grandmother raises him on her farm, where he spends his
days playing with his cousins and trying to forget the past. In the safety of that place, Brandon finally is able to trust the love of an adult to help iron out the wiry places until his nerves are as steady as any other boy's. But when Brandon's mom shows up a year later with a determined look in her eye and a new man in tow, Brandon's grandparents ignore a judge's ruling and flee the state with Brandon.
Do you know of any films, books, music and TV shows with an intergenerational theme?
Share them with us
and we'll share in the weeks and months to come. See disclaimer.
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Cool Ideas
LIFE
This week's cool ideas is
LIFE
- Living (well through) Intergenerational Fitness & Exercise - in Iowa, a program led by younger adults that increases access for at-risk older rural populations to sustainable, low cost, physical activity programming.
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Think Intergenerational - Funding Opportunities
Stop Hunger Grant. Youth Service America and Sodexo Foundation are looking for 125 of the best ideas from young people about how they can help end childhood hunger in their communities. They will offer $400 grants to youth leaders ages 5-25 across the U.S. to turn their ideas into action.
Responsive Grant. The Retirement Research Foundation is accepting request for proposals for efforts that increase the competency of professionals and paraprofessionals who serve older adults.
Deadline: Feb. 1, 2016.
Learn more
If you have - or know of - any intergenerational funding opportunities, please send them to Alan King at [email protected]
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Great Resources
Research
The Resounding Resiliency of Grandfamilies: Financial Stories from Older Relatives Caring for Children in Lower-Income Communities.
Citi Community Development commissioned this report by Generations United and
CFED
, which
highlights the financial strengths and challenges facing grandparents raising grandchildren in low-income communities.
Learn more
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Events
Conferences
Disparate Income, Wealth and Opportunity:
Implications for Social Insurance. National Academy of Social Insurance. Washington, DC. Jan. 27-28, 2016. Learn more
Educate. Ignite. Transform. National Youth Leadership Council.
Minneapolis, MN. March 30 - April 2, 2016.
Learn more
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Quote
"
We as an older generation, we need to give all our young people love, and the possibility of realizing their dreams."
~Kenny Leon, Broadway director
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Your Feedback Invited! We want Generations This Week to be a real resource for you. Please send us any national news on intergenerational issues in addition to upcoming conferences, funding opportunities, reports and webinars. Local and state events can be shared in our Facebook group. Please also let us know how we can improve! My email is [email protected]. I'd love to hear from you! Best, Alan King Communications Specialist Generations United |
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Treat Yourself GRAND! As a reader of Generations This Week, you can receive a complimentary subscription to GRAND, the online magazine by grandparents, for grandparents. That's a $19.95 value for 12 issues. Apply for your subscription and get valuable offers, inspirational stories, and more. Each new, bimonthly issue will be delivered right to your inbox! |
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