According to the 2010 census data, 5.8 million children in America live with their grandparents, and another 2 million live with “other relative”.  In Kentucky, roughly one in ten children are being raised by their grandparents, and 11 % (112,364) of children live in kinship care. As the number of grandchildren who rely on grandparents for security increases, the demands for financial and emotional security seem to be taking a toll on everyone involved. Using data from the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health, it was discovered those raising grandchildren were more likely to have their own physical and mental health problems, to be poorer than average, and have less education than the average adult. In addition, the grandchildren were more apt to have behavioral issues concerning anxiety and aggression. Supporting these families is necessary for the overall betterment of the state, and is therefore one of missions of the Family and Consumer Science Extension Department (FCS) at the University of Kentucky.

As a part of this mission, FCS Parenting and Child Development Senior Specialist David Weisenhorn, equipped and trained 58 FCS county agents in late April with the Parenting A Second Time Around (PASTA) curriculum developed by Cornell University. PASTA is designed for people who wish to lead workshops or educational sessions for grandparents or relatives who are in a parenting role with their related grandchildren, regardless of legal custody. The curriculum is structured to provide eight two-hour sessions of content that cover topics including child development, family formation and re-formation, discipline, legal concerns, grandparent and grandchild rights, and how to deal with challenges that come with living with teenagers.  The curriculum is chalked full of activities, information sheets, and supplemental materials to guide the facilitator in sharing beneficial resources and content that will help empower and equip the families in their counties.

All 58 agents who received the training reported the training as extremely beneficial. Similarly, 100% of feedback expressed a desire to continue or begin a PASTA support group in their county.  According to Kentucky Kinship Families Coalition president, Norma Hatfield, we now have trained facilitators in 17 counties that do not have a current grandparent support group. It is with great excitement that UK FCS continues to provide a much-needed service to a well deserving community, and look forward to reporting data on the groups once they get established.