Substance Abuse plays an important role in the number of children being raised by grandparents and other relatives

Substance abuse plays an important role in the number of children being raised by grandparents and other relatives. In Montgomery County Ohio, the 2006 American Community Survey reports that there were 6,442 grandparents filling the role of primary caregivers to their grandchildren. The reasons that parents become unwilling or unable to care for their children has implications for the development of policies and interventions that can strengthen families. In most of these families, care has been assumed in an informal manner rather than through placement with relatives by children's services.

In 1997, a Kinship Navigator Program initiated in Montgomery County, Ohio engages community health workers to assist caregivers in negotiating the complex system available to provide assistance with assuming responsibility for care of their relatives (primarily grandchildren).

During an initial intake interview with the caregivers who contact the Navigator program, caregivers are asked the reasons that the children are now in their care. Possible reasons include substance abuse, incarceration, domestic violence, death or illness, unemployment, abuse, and neglect. Over 500 caregiver intake forms were reviewed to examine the reasons for assuming.

Substance abuse was the most frequently cited reason for relatives assuming care of minor children, either alone or as a concurrent factor with other reasons. Drug abuse was reported 226 times, followed next frequently by abandonment (163), incarceration (92), and parent's emotional difficulties (82). These results indicate that more widely available treatment for substance abuse would greatly benefit family stability.