Area Agency on Aging aids grandparents raising grandkids

The Area Agency on Aging & Disability of Southwest Washington (AAADSW) offers assistance for people such as grandparents who are raising relative's children.

The agency offers a Kinship Navigator Program to assist seniors raising their grandchildren to connect with available services. The Kinship Navigator program connects families to financial support, legal services, school systems, housing assistance, respite care, adoption support, support groups, counseling support and much more.

"At our last AAADSW meeting, the Kinship Navigator program was explained and I was alarmed that in Wahkiakum County, 30 percent of grandparents live with and are responsible for their grandchildren, agency advisory council member Pearl Blackburn told The Eagle. "The percentage was higher in other Washington counties."

For information about the program, contact Sarah Revord at kinshipnavigator@DSHS.wa.gov or phone 360-759-4317.

For more data about grandparents raising grandchildren, see the State of Our Children and Families Report, 2017. The report is distributed by SELF (Support for Early Learning and Families) and SW WA Early Learning Regional Coalition.