U.S. President Donald Trump has signed into law the Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by U.S. Senate Aging Committee Chairman Susan Collins (R-ME).
S. 1091, which will create a one-stop-shop of support resources, was authored by U.S. Sens. Collins and Bob Casey (D-PA), ranking member of the Senate Aging Committee and the original cosponsor of the measure on May 10, 2017. U.S. Reps. Pete King (R-NY) and Jim McGovern (D-MA) on June 29, 2017 introduced the identical bill, H.R. 3105, in the U.S. House.
“Throughout history, grandparents have stepped in to provide safe and secure homes to their grandchildren, replacing traumatic pasts with loving and hopeful futures,” Sen. Collins said following the president’s signing of the bill on July 7.
Roughly 2.6 million American children are being raised by their grandparents or other relatives, according to a July 9 statement from Sen. Collins’ office that noted the numbers will increase as a result of the nation’s ongoing opioid crisis.
“With so many parents struggling with addiction, grandparents are increasingly coming to the rescue and assuming this role,” she said. “It is essential that we do all that we can to help these families.”
Sen. Collins said the bill “will help ensure that grandparents who have taken on this caretaker role have access to the resources they need.”
The opioid crisis, added Sen. Casey, presents the grandparents who have stepped in to raise their grandchildren “with unique challenges such as delaying retirement, bridging the generational divide, and working through the court system to secure custody.”
Sen. Casey said he looks forward to the Trump administration “swiftly convening the advisory council” that will be created under the bill “so grandparents can access the supports they need.”
The leaders of several national organizations applauded the proposal’s advancement through Congress, including Donna Butts, executive director of Generations United, who said “the senators’ compassionate leadership” supports relative caregivers via better coordination at the federal level.
The new law’s federal advisory council also “will serve as a much-needed centralized source of information and resources for grandparents,” providing them with assistance on issues including legal custody, available social services, mental health counseling, and other vital programs, said Nancy LeaMond, executive vice president and chief advocacy and engagement officer at AARP.
And as America’s opioid crisis continues to contribute to rising numbers of children entering foster care, the new law is critical to supporting kinship caregivers, who help maintain a child’s connection to family and help alleviate the trauma children face when they enter foster care, said American Academy of Pediatrics President Dr. Colleen A. Kraft.