Officials want grandparents tasked with raising their grandchildren in the FIVCO and Gateway area development districts to know there is help available. Grandparents can apply for caregiver support services and $500 per grandchild. Officials said it’s part of an effort between the Department of Aging and Independent Living and the state-funded Area Development Districts.
Teresa Rayburn with FIVCO’s Aging and Disability Resource Center said the program provides more than just financial aid to people raising their grandchildren.
“It’s not even about the clothing voucher there’s just all kinds of different expenses in there. We do help provide trainings for grandparents,” said Rayburn
Besides vouchers for clothes and personal care items, the assistance effort covers other expenses. The program reimburses grandparents up to $500 in dental care for their grandchildren if they are uninsured.
Rayburn said new grandparents who apply for assistance are usually the first to get served.
“We do serve new grandparents first each fiscal year,” said Rayburn. “The grandparents that have previously received help can reapply and we have a lot of those.”
For grandparents to be eligible for assistance they must be in the same household as the grandchildren, and the parents of the children cannot also be in the same household. Rayburn added that the household income must not exceed 150% of the national poverty level.