Grandfamilies Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Us & Them: Our Foster Care Crisis

Across the nation, more than 390,000 children rely on foster care. However, a shortage of licensed foster homes is creating a national crisis. While official foster care cases are carefully tracked, many informal examples of kinship care aren’t part of the data. For this Us & Them episode, we hear the experiences of those who’ve been part of the foster care system.

There’s a foster care crisis in America. Nationally, more than 390,000 children are in foster care. In West Virginia, that’s just over 6,000 children who need a safe place to call home. Last year, more than half of all states saw their number of licensed homes drop, some as high as 60 percent. That challenge comes because new foster parents don’t stay in the system for long.

On this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay hears about the shortage of licensed foster homes. Foster care is most often needed because of parental substance use, mental health challenges, poverty and neglect.

While official foster care cases are tracked and overseen by state agencies and nonprofit organizations, there are many informal kinds of so-called kinship care that are not official or included in state data. Some experts say the number of those kinship cases drives the stakes of the challenge much higher.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council, CRC Foundation and Daywood Foundation. Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.

Dominic Snuffer was 5 when he and his four younger siblings went into the first of their foster care homes.

“I was in several foster care situations… I think three or four. It always seemed short and seemed as if we were getting bounced around. The hard part was probably just the beginning, how much I just always try to keep my siblings in check. I felt as if, if they behaved in a way, just like the other situations we might get taken away. It feels like yesterday that I got adopted. It went by fast. The things that make me smile was definitely adoption day. ‘Cause I knew, I finally found a family and I could try and live out the rest of my childhood.”

— Dominic Snuffer

*Photo Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Larry Cooper is executive vice president of Innovation at The Children’s Home Network (CHN) of Tampa Bay, Florida. The agency works with kids in the foster care system and also provides services to prevent and support families from ever entering into the foster care system. Cooper has worked at CHN for more than 20 years, and he’s spent 8 years licensing foster homes while recruiting and training new foster parents. Cooper says some of the challenges bringing in new foster parents comes from an approval process that’s strict for a reason – but can take more than 12 months. A lot of people drop out along the way.

“You might fall off because of just life experiences that you may be going through. You might have a change in jobs. You might have an illness in your family. You might have a death in the family. And so I used to see for every 100 parents that I recruited, I might get only four to six families actually get a kid into their home for every hundred that would call me and be interested in becoming a foster parent.”

— Larry Cooper

*Photo Credit: The Children’s Home Network*

Marc and Brandi Wilson live in St. Clairsville, Ohio — just across the river from Wheeling, West Virginia. Brandi was a Child Protective Services worker in West Virginia for 20 years. One day back in 2014, her work at the Department of Health and Human Resources and her personal life collided when they became foster parents to a baby related to Marc.

“They both took the stand and said that they give up the rights to their child, I just started breaking down. [Brandi] was sitting beside me like this and she looked over at me. She said, ‘What’s wrong?’ I said, ‘I can never imagine saying that about my own child.’ She was kind of numb to it because she’s worked in the field. It was hard to hear somebody say that.” — Marc Wilson

“It wasn’t until he was sitting next to me in the courtroom that I realized not everybody hears relinquishment. Not everybody hears abuse, neglect. Not everybody hears that – as CPS workers [this is] just everyday language. So once I was with him and realized, OK, this isn’t everybody’s life. They may have drug issues, domestic violence, gangs coming in and out of their home, but these words are not everyday life for a lot of people.” — Brandi Wilson

*Photo Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Rachel Kinder supervises The Kinship Navigator Program with Mission West Virginia, a nonprofit that’s been around since 1997. Kinder has been working with the foster care system for more than two decades, and has seen lots of trends. In 2019, there was a record high of 7,200 children in West Virginia’s foster care system. She says, while it’s one thing to count the legal cases overseen by the Department of Human Services, there are many informal kinds of kinship care that are not official or included in state data.

“I can tell you the number of kids in formal care, so if there are 6,078 kids in foster care in West Virginia, right now 58 percent of those are in kinship relative placements. For kids in informal care, where grandma or an aunt or some type of relative or even what we call fictive* kin has stepped in, it’s almost impossible to get numbers on that.”

— Rachel Kinder

*Fictive care refers to placements where a foster parent knows the child but is not related to them. This could be a teacher, family friend or a neighbor.

*Photo Credit: Mission West Virginia*

There’s a clear need for foster families across the nation and in West Virginia. Nikki and Louisa Snuffer knew they would consider becoming foster parents when it came time for them to start a family. There’s a lot going on at their Sissonville home. The couple currently has 12 children, ranging from ages 10 months to 20 years old. Plus, they breed French Bulldogs.

“It actually was a pretty easy decision, because we were both on the same page almost always with helping people. I’ve known since probably my early high school years that I did want to do foster care. However, we really wanted no more than maybe three. And the way life and things happen, we got five at one time. I have two brothers who were put in foster care that I never knew and I still don’t know. So we made a commitment that when we got into it, that we would never split up families.” — Louisa Snuffer

“If they call us for a sibling group, we’re not going to say no to them because that was our number one belief. Like, ‘We need to do whatever we can to keep siblings together.’ When we were initially approved, we were approved for four children. So, DHHR told us we could have four children in the house, given the space. And that was kind of our cap. I said, ‘Maybe we’ll do three tops,’ you know, that seems like a manageable number. And the very first call we got for placement was a sibling group of five. Of course we said yes. We had to do a few things to get approved for a fifth child. They moved in with us. Things went great.” — Nikki Snuffer

*Photo Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Nikki Snuffer is holding her granddaughter. Many of the children the Snuffers have cared for, they know through Nikki’s job at Winfield High School. She’s an instructor for the Future Leaders Program, which is the National Guard’s high school curriculum that’s taught by veterans. In the program, students learn leadership and life skills, science, career prep and other subjects.

“[For] my kids that have gone to Winfield, I make them go through the [Future Leaders] program. Not because I’m teaching it, but because even if it wasn’t me, I’d want them to get these skills. It’s the kind of things that are forgotten these days.”

— Nikki Snuffer

*Photo Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

‘Grandfamilies’ Can Get $150 Vaccine Incentive

Gov. Jim Justice announced an initiative that will provide a $150 voucher for back-to-school supplies to all vaccinated grandfamilies in West Virginia.

Grandfamilies are families where grandparents are the primary caregivers for their grandchildren.

West Virginia State University’s Healthy Grandfamilies program – which provides information and resources to grandparents who are raising one or more grandchildren – will assist in the administration of the school voucher incentive.

“In the mix of all these grandfamilies, we’re looking at about 19,000 children in those families. What if our grandparents began dying off due to COVID because they didn’t get vaccinated? What would we do in West Virginia with 19,000 homeless children?” said Healthy Grandfamilies co-director Bonnie Dunn.

Registration for the school voucher incentive will begin next Tuesday, Sept. 7.

To qualify, all vaccine-eligible members of the grandfamily – including grandparents and grandchildren ages 12 and older – must have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The family must also be enrolled in the Healthy Grandfamilies program.

“We’ve been working every day to save our wisdom,” Gov. Justice said. “Now, we’re hoping our wisdom will help us save our youth; save our future.”

For information on how to enroll, visit healthygrandfamilies.com.

Grandfamilies of the Opioid Crisis

WVPB’s Us & Them introduces us to an unusual cultural divide, one that exists within families. It’s a generation split that comes when chemical addiction prevents parents from raising their children. Millions of U.S. households have become “grandfamilies,” a new kind of family structure. This generational Us & Them divide, puts pressure on aging adults and spotlights underlying financial issues that cause a strain between parents and their adult children.

West Virginia and other Appalachian states are at the epicenter of this trend and West Virginia has created a unique support program called “Healthy Grandfamilies.” It’s a training program designed to support grandparents when they become caregivers the second time around. This episode originally aired in February 2020 and was recently honored with journalism’s national Edward R. Murrow award.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, the CRC Foundation and the West Virginia Humanities Council.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond. You also can listen to Us & Them on WVPB Radio every fourth Thursday at 8 p.m., or listen to the encore presentation on the following Saturday at 3 p.m.

Us & Them: Grandfamilies and the Pandemic

Older people are the most vulnerable to COVID-19. That’s a challenge when people in their 60s, 70s and 80s are full time caretakers for grandkids.

The opioid epidemic has made more than 2.5 million children nationally part of a ‘Grandfamiliy,’ a household headed by someone over 60. Social distancing isn’t an option when grandparents are tending to diapers, making meals and overseeing homework full time. Some are even essential workers. And COVID has only exacerbated opioid addictions and deaths.

Through it all, families are still coming together to give their kids a home.

For this episode, Us & Them host Trey Kay speaks with West Virginian grandparents about the challenges of raising grandchildren during COVID-19. He also talks with Bonnie Dunn, director of West Virginian State University’s “Healthy Grandfamilies” program and Ana Beltran, co-director of National Center on Grandfamilies.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and the West Virginia Humanities Council.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond. You also can listen to Us & Them on WVPB Radio – Tune in on the fourth Thursday of every month at 8 PM, with an encore presentation on the fourth Saturday at 3 PM.

Grandfamilies Of The Opioid Crisis

Chemical addictions and the opioid crisis have divided millions of U.S. families. An addicted parent can abandon responsibilities to their children. When a grandparent steps in to help, it creates a new kind of family structure. Some call it a grandfamily. Addictions can create a generational Us & Them divide in a household. It also spotlights underlying financial issues that cause a strain between parents and their adult children.

West Virginia and other Appalachian states are at the epicenter of this trend. But there’s a new effort called “Healthy Grandfamilies.” It’s a training program designed to support grandparents when they become caregivers the second time around.

For this episode, Trey speaks with West Virginian grandparents, who are raising their children’s children and Bonnie Dunn, a champion for the “Healthy Grandfamilies” project.

Samantha Gattsek, co-produced this report.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and the West Virginia Humanities Council.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Part 3 – Adoption

At the Kanawha County circuit court, the Roberts family is celebrating. Today, Andy and Debbie have adopted their grandchildren, Preston, age 6, and Tesla,19 months.

Grandfamilies, or grandparents raising grandchildren, are one of the fastest-growing family units in West Virginia. The rise is mostly due to the opioid crisis. These families are faced with tough choices – such as whether to adopt the children, or to simply go through the steps to become legal guardians. Adoption brings permanence and stability, but it can also mean the loss of much-needed funds, provided to foster parents by the government.

The Roberts are one of the few grandfamilies that chose to pursue adoption.

“They got on drugs the way everyone else does,” said grandpa Andy Roberts. “They go to the doctor and they give them some medications and then give them more medications and then more medications and then when pills became too expensive on the street to buy, they went to alternative drug sources. And when things got bad we ended up with the kids.”

Tesla, the youngest, has been with the Roberts since she was released from the hospital at six weeks. She was born with drugs in her system and had to go through detox.

“I think we didn’t want to realize and believe that our children would be on drugs because we come from a pretty well-rounded household,” said Roberts. “We’ve always been good community-minded people. I’ve worked my whole life and my wife’s worked and, like I said, we go to church every day. We’ve been in the same church for 30 years. Our neighbors have been the same for 30 years, and our kids are grown up and gone through school and never had any serious issues. And then when all of a sudden you have a drug problem, it kind of shocks you. You’re in an unbelief system – this shouldn’t happen to us. It’s traumatic when you finally realize what’s going on.”

Roberts said he and his wife pursued adoption because Preston, the 6-year-old, needed stability about his future.

“For the permanency of having them live someplace and not knowing where they belong,” he explained. “Preston has concerns about what happens to him now…and the fact that he needed that permanency in his life – I think that’s more important than any of it.”

Stability is one reason often cited for going through with the adoption process, but it can be an emotional juggernaut. Some grandparents worry they won’t be around long enough to make legal adoption a responsible choice; others remain hopeful that their kids will get involved. Some worry that their kids will get involved. Adoption ensures that biological parents can’t contest guardianship of the children at a later date. It’s also an agreement, with the state acknowledging, that the adoptive parents have the resources to care for the children for the scope of their childhood.

Although 69, Andy Roberts still works. Additionally, the Roberts family qualified for a “subsidized adoption” through the state – an option only available for specific cases, usually involving kids who were taken away from their parents by the state, or children with ongoing health issues. But for many other families, adoption could mean losing financial help from the government.

In Ravenswood, Israel, age 10, and Jason, age 8, are playing in their grandmother’s living room. Their younger brother is still at school participating in an after-school program.

Their grandmother, Katherine Stanley, is on disability due to a broken back she sustained while working as a geriatric nurse 10 years ago. As their legal guardian, she receives a monthly maintenance subsidy of around $350 for the kids as well as medical cards. Altogether, she says she gets about $1,200 a month, which she has to stretch to cover four people.

“I pinch pennies – I mean, for my grandchildren, I’ll do anything,” said Stanley.

Stanley might qualify for a subsidized adoption – her grandchildren have health issues too – but she went out of state to get all three kids and there’s some uncertainty about how that would play out.

“I was told that if a grandparent is going to adopt a grandchild, certain resources stop that the children need,” she said.

Regardless, Stanley doesn’t expect the children’s mother to come back into the picture and said she’s committed to caring for them until they graduate.

“You know if stuff’s out there, let the grandparents know. Don’t take the grandparents for granted just because they have custody of their grandchildren,” said Stanley. “They are giving up their golden years and their retirement. I mean, I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but don’t take us for granted. I mean, we need help.”

Stanley currently participates in the West Virginia State University Healthy Grandfamilies program – a pilot program designed to help connect families to resources they need.

Early data from that program shows about 7 percent of participants pursue adoption.

In addition to all the financial considerations and questions about stability, whether to pursue adoption can be a wrenching emotional decision.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and WVU Medicine.