Parent Support Services Society of BC was pleased to host Minister Mary McNeil when she announced $100,000 MCFD funding to launch the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Support Line for the province. Staff on the line will assist grandparents and other relatives raising children to navigate MCFD and other complex systems; find answers and the assistance and resources they need to prevent or solve problems, and to learn about benefits and other services that will support the whole family.
Parent Support Services Executive Director Carol Ross stated: ?All of us at Parent Support Services are very excited about the potential for this new Support Line for family caregivers. We work closely with many grandparents across the province who are raising their grandchildren full time and we know what access to solid information and support means to them and how hard it often is to find. We know too how hard these grandparents work and struggle to make safe and happy homes for their grandchildren.
They have been behind the scenes for many years pushing for a province-wide ?help line? and here it is. Credit goes to Minister McNeil and ministry staff for recognizing the need and taking this important step forward. Allan McLeod, grandparent, and volunteer GRG Support Circle Facilitator in Port Alberni had this to say:
?The Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (GRG) Support Line will be a welcome and valuable step towards getting correct information as soon as we are approached by struggling grandparents. It is gratifying to finally see some fruition of our quest for recognition. It has been a long weary road for many of us and I only hope we soon can reach fair, equal, results for everyone, be they grandparents, foster parents, or legal guardians.? ?When grandparents open their home and take in their grandkids it is always because there has been some kind of stressful, horrendous, tragedy. They need a reliable resource able to assist with knowledge and support as they navigate the nightmare.? Grandparent and artist Bernadine Fox.
The Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Support Line is staffed by two (part time) skilled workers with background and training in social work, advocacy, family law and government services pertaining to kinship care giving. They can be reached by phone: at 604-558-4740 (Lower Mainland) or 1-855-474-9777 (toll free anywhere in BC) or by email GRGline@parentsupportbc.ca,
The initial Support Line hours of operation will be11:00am to 3:00pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. As the program develops, these hours will increase to include service 5 days a week.
Short URL: http://www.voiceonline.com/?p=7395
Posted by admin on Feb 13 2012. Filed under Canadian News, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entrySource: http://www.voiceonline.com/grandparents-raising-grandchildren-grg-support-line/
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