2. Supporting Grandfamilies to Build Resilience

4.75 (16 votes)

Only available as part of a package

Grandfamilies refer to grandparents or other relatives who have taken on the responsibility of raising children due to various life-altering events like parental death, mental health, and substance use disorders, incarceration, deportation, divorce, or military deployment. These situations often result in traumatic experiences that impact the mental health of both the children and their caregivers. Recent events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, racial violence, and the opioid epidemic have compounded the impact of trauma. Yet grandfamilies face complex and often unique barriers to accessing mental health services and supports. It is imperative to address the mental wellness of grandfamilies. This presentation explores the complex mental health landscape among grandfamily caregivers by highlighting key findings from Generations United's 2023 State of Grandfamilies Report titled "Building Resilience: Supporting Grandfamilies' Mental Health and Wellness." The report examines the mental health challenges faced by grandfamilies as well as family strengths and provides policy and practice recommendations to address these issues.

Eligible for 1 CE with live participation

Jamarl Clark

Assistant Director

National Center on Grandfamilies, Generations United

As the Assistant Director of Generations United’s National Center on Grandfamilies Jamarl D. Clark is responsible for helping direct the Center’s work including overseeing grandfamilies’ engagement, creating and ensuring the quality of the Center’s publications and resources, conducting federal advocacy, and leading the kinship navigator collaborative. For over a decade, Clark has served as a trusted thought partner to non-profit organizations with a focus on leadership, team building, and strategic planning. Through his work as a nonprofit and program development leader for national organizations, Clark brings an arsenal of well-developed management tools to Generations United. Prior to coming to Generations United, Clark served as the Executive Director of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., Program Manager for Plaza West, the first grandfamily residential affordable-housing project in the District of Columbia, and worked with corporate and government agencies to support the co-founding of the Community Corps program for Jumpstart for Young Children, in Washington D.C.

Larry Cooper

Executive Vice President of Innovation

Children’s Home Network

Larry Cooper, MSW, LCSW, Executive Vice President of Innovation, has supervised programs at the Children’s Home Network since 2001 in Tampa, Florida. He has advocated and presented locally, statewide and nationally on his work with children and relative caregiver families. He was recognized in March 2023 Tampa Bay Lightning Community Hero, 2018 Child Welfare Champion Award from the Florida Department of Children and Families, the 2017 Social Worker of the Year by the Florida Coalition for Children and 2016 Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers, Tampa Unit. He was the model developer of one of the first evidenced based Kinship Navigation programs in country on the California Evidenced Based Clearinghouse that is serving throughout Florida and he provides training and consultation for this model being utilized throughout Delaware. Additionally, Mr. Cooper serves as a Contributing Editor for GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy. Mr. Cooper has been an Adjunct Professor at the University of South Florida, School of Social Work. Mr. Cooper earned both his Masters of Social Work degree in 1993 and his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology in 1990 at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

Mercedes Bristol

Founder and Executive Director

Texas Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

Mercedes Bristol is the Founder and Executive Director of Texas Grandparents Raising Grandchildren. Her grandparenting journey began nearly 10 years ago when she adopted 5 of her grandchildren. She quickly learned that there was a gap in information and resources for kinship caregivers. Mercedes has since become an advocate for Grandparents who are Raising their Grandchildren at the State, Federal, and City Levels.

Keith Lowhorne (Moderator)

Chairperson

Advisory Council to Support Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (SGRG)

Keith and Edie Lowhorne have been raising two grandchildren for over 7 years. Their Grandfamily started after courts gave custody of the children when the birth mother was arrested for child endangerment, along with 32 other felonies. Both grandchildren were born drug addicted and spent months in the hospital withdrawing from the illegal drugs in their systems.After months of trying to find help and being unsuccessful, the Lowhorne’s started Grandparents as Parents as a way to help Grandfamilies in Alabama. That led Lowhorne being named to the national organization, Generations United, where Keith represents Alabama as a Grand Voice. In 2023, Lowhorne was elected and is vice-chair of the Federal Advisory Council to Support Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in Washington DC. He was also appointed to the recently formed Alabama Joint Interim Study Commission on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren.Lowhorne has made a commitment to help Grandparents who find themselves in the same situation as he and his wife Edie to make it easier to locate possible help and to be an advocate, supporter, and listener.