The William Penn Foundation has announced a set of three-year grants totaling $2.8 million to help eight organizations improve and expand their services focused on Philadelphia families in which grandparents or other older adult kin are the primary caregivers for young children.

The grants will enable more than 1,500 “grandfamilies” to receive case management, resources and referrals, peer support groups, outreach and education, and emergency funding for basic needs. Recipients include the Coalition of African Communities (Africom), Grand Central, Masjid Al-Wasatiyah Wal-Itidaal, the Philadelphia Housing Authority, Pradera Corporation, SeniorLAW Center, Supportive Older Women’s Network, and Turning Points for Children. Generations United also was awarded a grant from the foundation to convene a learning community and provide technical assistance among the grantees and other Philadelphia kinship support organizations, and Child Trends received funding to develop an evaluation plan to assess the impact of the initiative.

In Philadelphia, more than 17,000 grandchildren are estimated to live in homes where grandparents provide their primary care. Grandfamilies can result from biological parents’ challenges such as death, divorce, substance use, incarceration, job loss, and illness. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the needs of existing grandfamilies and created new ones. According to a William Penn Foundation-funded report from Generations United, when grandfamilies receive the support they need, children raised by grandparents or other relatives thrive despite the potential to face multiple challenges.

“As we continue to focus on supporting Philadelphia children to learn and thrive from their earliest years, we know that there are many types of families with diverse backgrounds, cultures, and circumstances that merit a unique set of supports,” said Jennifer Stavrakos, interim director of the foundation’s Great Learning Program. “This initiative invests in supportive services that are specifically designed to meet the needs of grandfamilies. Many children benefit from the love, support, and stability of their grandparents, relatives, or close family friends, but it can be challenging for older caregivers to assume the parenting role, navigate complex systems, and afford the expenses of raising children again.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Maryna Andriichenko)