Barriers, Lessons Learned, and Helpful Hints

Abstract

Increasingly, grandmother caregivers must interact with social agencies to obtain services for their grandchildren, but encounter unanticipated obstacles. This qualitative study reports the experiences of 12 grandmothers who were caring for grandchildren of color through five social service agencies. A semi-structured instrument was used that included questions about different aspects of the experience through in-depth interviews and a focus group. Findings describe three categories of experiences: (a) barriers encountered in the systems, (b) lessons learned about the systems, and (c) helpful hints about the systems. Implications for social workers include behavior during service delivery, the dual role inherent in practice with caregivers,and inclusion and support of biological parents.

Key Words:

• African Americans
• kinship care
• intergenerational support
• qualitative research
• service delivery