Are you a grandparent or kinship caregiver, shouldering the immense responsibility of raising children scarred by trauma? Do you often feel overwhelmed, running on empty to shield your grandchildren from the cracks in a broken system? Are you chasing after the elusive standard of being the “perfect” caregiver, all while…
Are you running on pure emergency fuel to keep your grandchildren out of foster care? Child welfare and school systems often rely on caregiver self-sacrifice to fill their missing policies and empty budgets—here is how to stop burning out. Episode Summary: In Episode 131 of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (@grandparentspodcast), host…
The Hidden Foster Care System Exposed. Child welfare agencies frequently highlight shrinking foster care rosters as a mark of success, yet this statistic hides a sobering reality. Across the country, millions of children are quietly diverted away from state custody and placed directly with grandparents, aunts, or other relatives. This…
This video is about exposing truths about kinship care and the foster care system. Do you ever feel unseen as a grandparent or relative raising grandchildren—overlooked by the very systems meant to protect children? Have you discovered, the hard way, that the so-called “support” for kinship caregivers is riddled with…
This episode is about reforming kinship care. We’re crossing a threshold—moving out of the trenches and into the boardroom. Grandparents and relative caregivers are the invisible CEOs of households in crisis, but for too long, the child welfare system has relied on outdated frameworks that leave families unsupported. In this…
Are you a grandparent or kin stepping into the role of caregiver, feeling overwhelmed by systems that seem designed to ignore your voice? Do you find yourself battling not just sleepless nights and bureaucratic tangles, but also the invisible weight of holding your family together—often without recognition, adequate support, or…
Why Data is the Key to Structural Support For Kinship Caregivers. Do you ever feel lost in the maze of court dates, school meetings, and sleepless nights, forced into a role you never expected? Are you a grandparent who has become the last line of defense for your family, while…
Are you running your family’s crisis on absolute empty? In the relentless, daily scramble to stabilize our grandchildren, fight biased legal systems, and manage caseworkers, we rarely pause to audit our own internal wreckage. We are expected to operate complex trauma-recovery units while quietly grieving our own adult children. In…
Are you a grandparent navigating the chaos of raising grandchildren in a neurodiverse household? Feeling like you’re exceeding your emotional limits every single day? Do you find yourself craving just one uninterrupted breath, struggling to reconcile the clinical language of “disorder” and “correction” with the vibrant, complex reality of your…
Are you completely out of operational capacity in your own neurodiverse home? If you have ever sat in your car during a sensory storm, feeling your own limits shattered while your grandkids melt down in the backseat, you are not alone—and you are not failing the mission. In Episode 127,…
Are you a grandparent stepping into the role of raising grandchildren, questioning how to build a sanctuary out of chaos—especially when trauma lingers in your family’s story? Do legal barriers, relentless exhaustion, or the stigma of addiction leave you feeling stranded, yearning for guidance grounded in real science rather than…
This video especially focuses on rural kinship care.
This video is about therapeutic storytelling for kinship caregivers.
storytelling for kinship caregivers
Banana Cream Pie bloopers
Athena makes Banana Cream pie
Illinois kinship care resources
kinship housing crisis in illinois
Have you ever wondered whether your grandchild’s emotional outbursts, hyperactivity, or inability to focus are really the result of past trauma—or if something deeper might be at play in their bodies? Are you overwhelmed trying to balance household expenses, legal paperwork, and your own health, all while struggling to understand…
Is the Glitch in the Mind or the Hardware? Cellular Healing with Dr. Jeffrey Knight "What if your grandchild isn't 'misbehaving'—what if they are just burdened by the toxicity of the present?" When we face ADHD, autism, or emotional outbursts in the "Second Cradle," our first instinct is to call…
Have you ever been told that your golden years should be about rest, only to find yourself back in the world of school runs, sports practices, and sleepless nights? Are you a grandparent raising your grandchildren, wrestling with exhaustion and identity loss, while quietly wondering if you’ll ever reclaim a…
"We often hear the narrative that grandparents raising grandchildren have been robbed of their golden years. But today, we’re flipping the script." In this high-energy episode, host Laura Brazan sits down with TEDx speaker and developmental psychologist Dr. Deborah Heiser to explore the science of generativity. While the world sees…
Are you a grandparent shouldering the daily stress of raising your grandchildren while quietly navigating your own chronic pain or health challenges? Have you found yourself getting up at 3am to manage family needs, only to realize your own body is running on empty? Do you feel guilty for putting…
"In the life of a kinship CEO, the body is often the first asset to be sacrificed. But if the CEO goes down, the organization follows." In this sobering and deeply personal episode, host Laura Brazan shares a "heavy confession" about her own recent health warning. When the "hustle of…