Local program offers help for grandparents who are back to parenting

Oct. 20--As Allie Britton approached her 50th birthday, she was preparing for retirement. But just before she hit the milestone, her world was flipped upside down.

Family circumstances left her needing to care for her two grandchildren.

The Keene resident is now raising the toddlers, 1 and 3, working two part-time jobs and struggling to keep up.

"I have other circumstances in my life, so I don't have much money, and raising a child is so expensive. I did have help with my family ... but I needed more assistance," said Britton, now 53.

To help those in Britton's situation, Home Healthcare, Hospice and Community Services -- which has locations in Keene, Claremont and Peterborough -- has launched a new program to connect caregivers with local resources.

The home care provider received state funding earlier this year to launch a Kinship Navigator program, run through the N.H. Children's Trust.

The program provides free emotional support, education and guidance to grandparents and other nontraditional caregivers.

Keene's program is one of 17 other Kinship Navigators in New Hampshire, with others in the Monadnock Region in Antrim, Peterborough and Claremont.

Penny Vaine, who manages the HCS program, said she's seen an increase of these "kinship" families in recent years, due in large part to the opioid crisis, but also due to a variety of other circumstances, with 18,000 statewide as of 2018.

"There is a lot of stress involved, and what a commitment for these grandparents to be retirement age and then, nope, they are back in the trenches learning again how to parent," she said, "not to mention so much has changed since they were parenting."

Through the local program, which currently serves 10 families in the greater Keene area, participants are put in touch with HCS social worker, Brittany Daley, who can help them receive needed benefits and direct them to other resources.

Daley said one of the biggest burdens she encounters is the financial impact.

"I have been able to help grandparents get fuel for the winter ... I have another who was struggling to get food, so I got her some grocery cards," she said.

Britton is a new member of the program, as she just found out about it at her support group at Keene Day Care Saturday. But already, she said, she's felt a weight lifted off her shoulders.

Each winter she's been getting oil from Southwestern Community Services, which offers the fuel annually starting in December.

"But I have been turning on my furnace now because it's cold ... and I won't have enough oil to get us through until [December]," Britton said. "So Brittany was actually able to help me get oil."

Other families need help getting kids into therapy or might not know how to set up a Zoom meeting for virtual schooling, according to Daley, who attends the monthly grandparents support group at Keene Day Care to inform people of the program and available resources.

Families can also receive emergency cash from HCS, Vaine said, for unexpected bills or expenses.

Up until July when the Keene-area program launched, she said these caregivers were navigating "by themselves" to find resources they may need.

For example, she said if a child were receiving any benefits under their biological parents' care, such as Medicaid or food stamps, they could not continue receiving those benefits with a relative caregiver.

"The state was mandating that they base [benefits] off of their income, not the parents', so they were ineligible," Vaine said. "So what we learned early on is the system is not set up for this."

The COVID-19 pandemic has added another challenge, she said, especially for older caregivers.

"These grandparents may stress about sending their grandkids to school and what they might contract while they're there," she said.

Ultimately, Vaine said the hope is to show the region's families they aren't alone.

"What we are realizing is often, families don't even realize what is out there, so they don't know what they need," she said. "We are finding ways to encourage those families to get that support."

For Britton, this already rings true.

"I wouldn't change it for the world. I am very thankful that I can be here for the kids," she said. "[But] to hear they can help ... is huge."

Those interested in Home Healthcare, Hospice and Community Services' Kinship Navigator program can call 800-541-4145.

Olivia Belanger can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1439, or obelanger@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @OBelangerKS.

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