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RAPP helps nontraditional parents cope
Published March 30, 2007
Parenting is an adventure under the best of circumstances, but when a person must take over the parenting role of another relative's children, that adventure can be magnified to the point of frustration.
Fortunately there are programs available to help. The Relatives As Parents Program (RAPP) support group can guide grandparents and other relatives who find themselves in the role of parent to resources that can help ease their burden, as well as provide emotional support from people who understand their unique situation.
An increasing number of people in Jackson County are finding themselves in the role of parenting for a second time, as grandparents raising their own grandchildren. In Jackson County, the last census reported 12,908 children in households. Of that number 937 are being raised by a grandparent, and 159 are under the care of some other relative.
RAPP meets every fourth Tuesday of each month at noon at the Impact Learning Center in Scottsboro. Led by Judy Edmond, regional agent for the Alabama Cooperative Extension Office, and Brenda Miller, coordinator for the Parent Involvement Program for the Scottsboro City Board of Education, RAPP hosts monthly meetings with speakers to help make life easier for relatives in the parenting role. They provide guest speakers who can give advice on such varied topics as DHR services, financial planning, estate planning and legal issues. Edmond also offers tips on taking care of yourself, such as dealing with stress. For instance, DHR can offer such services as child support enforcement, paternity tests and financial assistance.
Edmond said the Grandparent Visitation Law has helped to ensure grandparents' rights, but more needs to be done in the area of providing financial assistance to grandparents and other relatives who are caring for children.
The group is there to offer moral support for each other and provide a support network of people who know what the others are going through.
RAPP also hosts a picnic in June for participants and their families in addition to the monthly meetings for caregivers.
The group is reaching out to all of Jackson County to invite any relative who is in the role of parent for another person's child to attend the meetings.
RAPP in Jackson County is sponsored by the Childcare Resource Network, Impact Learning Center, Launch and the Scottsboro City Board of Education's Parental Involvement Program.
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