Grandparents, Other Relatives and Advocates to Rally on Lawn of U.S. Capitol

WASHINGTON, April 27, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- What do Olympic athlete Simone Biles, former President Barack Obama, Senator Tammy Baldwin and syndicated columnist Michelle Singletary have in common? The answer: All were raised by their grandparents. Nearly 2.6 million children in the U.S. are being raised by grandparents or other relatives. These caregivers save American taxpayers more than four and a half billion dollars each year by keeping children out of foster care. On May 10, 2017 relative caregivers, children and advocates from around the country will join members of Congress on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building for the 5^th National GrandRally. The spotlight will be on the critical role grandparents and other relatives play in providing safe, loving, and permanent families for children. The opioid crisis has spurred a major increase in the number of children entering foster care, after years of decline. For every child in foster care, nearly 20 children are being raised by relatives outside the child welfare system and are receiving little to no support. Small policy changes now could make big differences in the lives of relative caregivers and in the lives of the children they raise. 

WHAT:
5^th National GrandRally of relative caregivers, children and advocates.

WHEN & WHERE:
May 10, 2017
West Grassy Front of the U.S. Capitol Building
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

WHO:
Michelle Singletary - Nationally syndicated columnist of "The Color of Money" for the Washington Post will emcee the program.

Invited speakers include members of Congress, grandparents and other relative caregivers and youth raised in kinship families. Musician, recording artist and songwriter SaulPaul and A Second Chance, Inc. Choir from Pittsburgh, Penn. will perform.  

The event is cosponsored by Generations United, Casey Family Programs, Children's Defense Fund, AARP, Grandfamilies of America, Foster Club, and the National Kinship Alliance for Children.  For more information or for pre-event interviews, please contact Alan King at [email protected]

AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering Americans 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With nearly 38 million members and offices in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, AARP works to strengthen communities and advocate for what matters most to families with a focus on health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also works for individuals in the marketplace by sparking new solutions and allowing carefully chosen, high-quality products and services to carry the AARP name. As a trusted source for news and information, AARP produces the world's largest circulation publications, AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org  or follow @AARP and @AARPadvocates on social media.

Casey Family Programs is the nation's largest operating foundation focused on safely reducing the need for foster care and building Communities of Hope for children and families across America. Founded in 1966, we work in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and two U.S. territories and with more than a dozen tribal nations to influence long-lasting improvements to the safety and success of children, families and the communities where they live.

The Children's Defense Fund 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.

FosterClub is about providing youth a voice within the system that so heavily affects their lives. Whether advocating on their own behalf, in concern for siblings or family members, or speaking out on behalf of their 400,000+ peers currently in the system; our websites, publications, and events provide a youth-friendly network which helps the voices of young people to be heard.

Generations United is home to the National Center on Grandfamilies, a leading voice for issues affecting families headed by grandparents and other relatives. Through the Center, Generations United leads an advisory group of organizations, caregivers and youth that set the national agenda to advance public will in support of these families. Center staff conduct federal advocacy and provide technical assistance to state level practitioners and advocates and train grandfamilies to advocate for themselves. The Center raises awareness about the strengths and needs of the families though media outreach, weekly communications and awareness raising events. It offers a broad range of guides, fact sheet and tools for grandfamilies, which cover issues from education and health care access to financial and legal supports and can be found at www.gu.org.

Grandfamilies of America is a nonprofit organization focused on supporting grandparents and other relatives raising children. GrandFamilies of America strives to preserve family ties and heritage for future generations by bringing together kinship caregivers from across the country and providing them with the education and tools they need to navigate complex government systems to ensure safety, stability and permanency for the children in their care. We do this through collaboration with these caregivers, child welfare advocates, other organizations and agencies, who share our vision. We dedicate our energy to empowering caregivers to take back control of life altering decision-making, from outside sources, as it affects their family. GrandFamilies of America was founded in 2006 by Pat Owens of Maryland and Sharon Olson of Minnesota. Being relative caregivers themselves, their vision is to bring the voice of the caregiver to our nation's Capitol.

The National Kinship Alliance for Children represents kinship caregivers and their supporters. The Alliance provides a state-based information/referral kinship network and a national help line, and advocates for greater support for kinship families and recognition of September as Kinship Care Month.

SOURCE Children's Defense Fund

Related Links

http://www.childrensdefense.org