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Raising grandson easier than negotiating 'minefield' of social services
By Matthew Dallas, Stuff (Manawatu Standard), 19 April 2023
The 'hidden' care kids: Need for benefits to raise someone else's child up 50%
By Brittany Keogh, Stuff, 4 April 2023
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren’s Jacqui Phillips shares how a carer’s life can change overnight
By Judith Lacey, Manawatu Guardian, 7 December 2022
Actor Bruce Hopkins has a flippin' good birthday, with 67 leaps off a wharf
By Sapeer Mayron, Stuff, 25 November 2022
'They do it for love': Lockdown throws up extra challenges for grandparents raising their grandkids
By Sapeer Mayron, Sunday Star Times, Stuff, 17 October 2021
Support needs grow as more grandparents raise their grandchildren
By Cherie Cevignon, Nelson Mail, 15 September 2020
COVID-19 Coronavirus: Lockdown: What it means for Grandparents with Kids at Home
By Dubby Henry, NZ Herald, 24 March 2020
Growing link between Meth and family harm prompts new support
By Katy Jones, Nelson Mail, 14 February 2020
Actor takes the long way home to Stewart Island
By Dave Nicoll, Southland Times, 9 May 2018
Stepdaughter's methamphetamine addiction leaves Hamilton grandfather raising two sets of twins
By Kelly Tantau, Stuff, 4 February 2018
Caught in the Web: Grandparents bearing the burden of more parents on meth
By Katy Jones, Nelson Mail, 26 January 2018
Rings actor takes long walk for grandparents
By Peter De Graaf, Northern Advocate, 27 October 2017
Trek helps charity supporting grandparents raising grandchildren
By Bayley Moor, Stuff, 19 October 2017
A Kerikeri grandfather is grateful for a trust which has provided clothing, advocacy and guidance as he learns how to care for his blind grandson. Read more>>
Meet the grandparents raising their grandchildren
By Hannah Hill, Lifetime Retirement Income, 4 October 2017
For most of us, spending time and occasionally taking care of our grandchildren is one of the great joys of getting older. But what if you couldn’t hand them back at the end of the day?
What if you had to raise your own grandchildren full time? Read more>>
More support needed for grandparents raising grandkids
Radio Live interview: Mark Sainsbury talks to Julie Herbert who has been raising her grandson since he was eight months old.
Insight: The rub between Work and Income and beneficiaries
By Philippa Tolley, Radio NZ; From Insight, 8:10 am on 15 October 2017
The Ministry of Social Development says its mission is to help people look after themselves - so why are there so many complaints about its lack of humanity? Read more>>
Listen to Full Audio Report: 28’43”
Actor Bruce Hopkins walks Te Araroa trail to raise money for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
by Sarah Harris, NZ Herald, 5 October 2017
A Kiwi actor - most famous for a stint in Lord of the Rings - is going to spend five months walking a 3000km track the length of New Zealand to raise $50,000 for grandparents raising their grandchildren...read more>>
The Grandparents that have to raise their Grandchildren
by Hannah Hill, Lifetime Retirement Income - News, 4 October 2017
For most of us, spending time and occasionally taking care of our grandchildren is one of the great joys of getting older. But what if you couldn’t hand them back at the end of the day? What if you had to raise your own grandchildren full time?...read more >>
Grandparent caregivers receive “dreadful” treatment - Scoop - Sunday 23 July 2017
Grandparents are unrecognised victims of the P crisis – we need to support them
by The Listener, Editorial 25 May 2017
To say we have a P epidemic seriously understates our methamphetamine situation. It’s the ultimate time bomb, with an ability to reach backwards as well as forwards in ruining the lives of three generations at once…read more>>
Insight: Meth - the human cost of a hit - Radio New Zealand - Sunday 22 May 2017
By Lois Williams
The call came out of the blue last week, for Margaret - a Whangarei grandmother. And yet it was one she'd been half-expecting for years. Her methamphetamine addicted daughter in Auckland had left her five children home alone. Someone called the police - and at 3am they'd picked them up. The eldest was 10 - the youngest, two... Read more >>
By Danica MacLean
More than 500 Northland children are being raised by their grandparents, and a trust responsible for supporting them says the main reason is methamphetamine use by their parents. Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Trust chief executive Kate Bundle said drug use was the number one reason for a child to be in their grandparents' care…read more>>
Meth a bigger problem than booze in forcing kids into grandparents' care, charity insists – TVNZ One News - Friday 19 May 2017
By Chris Chang
Charity group Grandparents Raising Grandchildren says meth is the key reason grandparents are stepping in to raise their grandchildren and in the last three years 1800 more families have reached out for help....read more >>
Grandparents step in as P epidemic spreads – Radio New Zealand – Friday 19 May 2017
By Lois Williams
Methamphetamine abuse is now behind almost every case where parents lose custody of their children, says the Grandparents Supporting Grandchildren Trust. Oranga Tamariki - formerly Child Youth and Family - said the addictive drug was implicated nearly every time it had to remove children from unsafe homes. Oranga Tamariki Whangarei manager Claire Burnton said use of meth, or 'P', appeared to be on the rise in Northland. "It's probably the single biggest factor in terms of children being exposed to harmful adult behaviour and therefore the need for Oranga Tamariki to become involved to create safety," she said. "It's huge."…read more>>
By Matt Calman
Wide-ranging research has laid bare the experiences of grandparents stepping up to raise grandchildren due to their own child’s battle with drugs. It places enormous financial, physical and emotional stress on grandparents at a time when they should be free to focus on retirement. Matt Calman delves into these findings and talks with some of the grandparents behind the data...read more>>
Grandparents have help for parenting - Wanganui Chronicle - 22 March 2017
By Paul Brooks
March 20-26 is Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Trust Awareness Week.
It's a growing trend where grandparents, through necessity, are having to raise their own grandchildren. The children's parents could be absent, incapable, unwilling or violent, leaving the grandparents to step in and assume responsibility, often at great cost - financially or otherwise - to themselves...read more>>
Meth abuse key reason grandparents are raising grandchildren - NZ Herald - 21 March 2017
By Sarah Harris
Methamphetamine crept into her children's lives, turning her daughter into a "zombie." As her children were unable to parent, Minaora* took over raising her grandchildren...read more>>
Grandparents raising Grandchildren Awareness - The Post (Franklin and North Waikato) - 21 March 2017
By Emma Sharplin
While most grandparents should be enjoying their retirement, over 6000 of them are currently raising their grandchildren. From Monday 20 March until Sunday 26 March, is Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Awareness Week...read more>>
Bouquet of the Week - River City Press - 15 December 2016
The recipient for RCP’s Bouquet of the Week is Jenny Morton. Jenny is the voluntary co-ordinator for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in Whanganui and with her partner, raises her great grand-daughter...read more>>
The group Grandparents Raising Grandparents (GRG) had their annual Christmas function in Kowhai Park from 11am t0 1pm last Saturday, December 10. Thanks to the Lions Club the children were able to...read more>>
Grandparent caregivers need greater support - CPAG
Voxy.co.nz Wednesday, 21 September, 2016 - 15:41
Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) says that If New Zealand’s new Ministry Oranga Tamariki is truly committed to supporting vulnerable children into better outcomes, then it must ensure that the older generation with grandchildren and mokopuna placed in their care must have access to the right kind of support, including adequate financial support, so that they too, don’t fall into poverty...read more>>
Grandparents caring for grandchildren struggle to make ends meet: survey
Grandparents raising grandchildren deal with effects of drugs, alcohol and neglect
Grandparents under strain raising 'P' babies
Radio NZ - Morning Report, 7 September 2016
Adriana Weber and Catherine Hutton
Grandparents caring for the children of drug-addict parents are struggling to make ends meet, research shows.
Freemasons NZ’s $30,000 Donation for Camps for Children in Grandparent Care
GRG News, 19 August 2016
GRG Speaks out at Justice for Moko rally
GRG News, 28 June 2016
Zizi Sparks, North Shore Times, 23 June 2016
The Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Trust is urging everyone to stand up against child abuse at a rally. Justice for Moko rallies are....read more>>
Pippa Brown, Rotorua Weekender, 6 May 2016
Lorna and Geoff Hurihanganui never dreamed they'd be raising a school-aged child in their 50's...Read more>>
Grandparents getting paid at last
Simon Collins, NZ Herald, 22 December 2015
Thirty-one grandparents who have not received the correct benefit for bringing up their grandchildren are in line for back pay averaging $20,000 to $30,000 each after Work and Income agreed to review their cases.
Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has told the support group Grandparents Raising Grandchildren that all the cases will be reviewed by the end of the year…read more>>
by Laurilee McMichael, Taupo and Turangi Weekender, 5 November 2015
With 9,500 grandparents raising around 17,000 children, the lack of support for grandparents acting as primary carers is a growing issue. Most children have come into their care because of a traumatic incident or family breakdown...Read more>>
by Stuart Whitaker, Bay of Plenty Times, 23 October 2015
By the time children reach their late teens, parents are likely to be thinking their days of raising youngsters are behind them. But, increasingly, more and more grandparents are finding that isn't necessarily the case. Sometimes without any warning, they find themselves once again looking after young children fulltime…read more>>
Radio New Zealand 24 September 2015
Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has outlined a major overhaul of Child, Youth and Family (CYF), which she says will involve much better tracking of children in state care and more contracting out to other organisations…read more >>
Scathing Report on CYF's Performance
by Simon Collins 24 September 2015
A review panel is scathing of Child, Youth and Family's performance, saying the current system is focused on immediate risks and containing costs at the expense of tackling harm and supporting long-term outcomes…read more >>
Pension funding planning falls short
by Simon Collins 15 August 2015
Almost two-thirds of New Zealanders nearing retirement have not yet worked out how much money they will need to keep afloat after retiring, a new survey has found. Read more in this NZ Herald article in which GRG Member Ann Wilson talks about the impact raising her grandchildren has had on her retirement planning…read more>>
Children 'not lab-rats' - Anne Tolley intervenes in child abuse experiment
by Stacey Kirk 30 July 2015
Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has halted an experiment which would have seen 60,000 children monitored for two years to see if they were abused.
A plan to treat vulnerable newborns as "lab rats" by sitting back for two years to see if they were abused has been blocked by the Government...read more>>
Grandparents raising grandchildren seek support
by Evan Harding, Southland Times July 8 2015
Increasing numbers of Invercargill grandparents who are raising their grandchildren are joining a support group as they get isolated from their friends and struggle to meet the financial demands.
Lynette Nielsen, the co-ordinator of Invercargill's Grandparents Raising Grandchildren support group, said 79 families had joined the group since it was activated three years ago...read more>>
Trust calls for earlier implementation of allowance for unsupported children and orphans
Maori Television Online News Team 10:29am, Monday 8 June 2015
A Trust supporting Grandparents raising their grandchildren has called for earlier implementation of an Amendment Bill that would see clothing allowances of around $1000 and $1685 per year provided for unsupported children and orphans.
Parity for clothing allowance - in 2018
New Zealand Herald 11:35 PM Wednesday Jun 3, 2015
A bill aiming to give financial parity between the carers of foster children and children raised by their grandparents was passed in Parliament tonight but it won’t take effect until 2018.
New Zealand Herald Sunday, 17 May 2015
A $30,000 grant will enable a knitting group to bring even more joy and love — and beanies and blankets — to deserving families.
6 R's to raising grandchildren
Wanganui Chronicle Friday, 24 April 2015
GRANDPARENTS Raising Grandchildren (GRG) Trust NZ, with local support groups, offers excellent support to grandparents who unexpectedly find themselves in a position where they are needed to raise their grandchildren.
Extra financial support for carers
New Zealand Herald 5:16 PM Sunday Dec 15, 2013
Carers who bring up children in their extended family will be eligible for more financial support to help with the job under new funding package announced by Social Development Minister Paula Bennett.
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren and the Welfare Reform
Friday, 26 July 2013, 4:00 pm
Press Release: Aotearoa NZ Association of Social Workers
Grandparent carers forced back to work
Stuff 08:18 25/07/2013
Grandparents who have spent years raising troubled grandchildren are being told to get back to work, sometimes just months from retirement. Support group Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (GRG) says this month's welfare shakeup has pushed many carers into looking for work as they fear having their benefit payments cut.
Stepdaughter's methamphetamine addiction leaves Hamilton grandfather raising two sets of twins
By Kelly Tantau, Stuff, 4 February 2018
Caught in the Web: Grandparents bearing the burden of more parents on meth
By Katy Jones, Nelson Mail, 26 January 2018
Rings actor takes long walk for grandparents
By Peter De Graaf, Northern Advocate, 27 October 2017
Trek helps charity supporting grandparents raising grandchildren
By Bayley Moor, Stuff, 19 October 2017
A Kerikeri grandfather is grateful for a trust which has provided clothing, advocacy and guidance as he learns how to care for his blind grandson. Read more>>
Meet the grandparents raising their grandchildren
By Hannah Hill, Lifetime Retirement Income, 4 October 2017
For most of us, spending time and occasionally taking care of our grandchildren is one of the great joys of getting older. But what if you couldn’t hand them back at the end of the day?
What if you had to raise your own grandchildren full time? Read more>>
More support needed for grandparents raising grandkids
Radio Live interview: Mark Sainsbury talks to Julie Herbert who has been raising her grandson since he was eight months old.
Insight: The rub between Work and Income and beneficiaries
By Philippa Tolley, Radio NZ; From Insight, 8:10 am on 15 October 2017
The Ministry of Social Development says its mission is to help people look after themselves - so why are there so many complaints about its lack of humanity? Read more>>
Listen to Full Audio Report: 28’43”
Actor Bruce Hopkins walks Te Araroa trail to raise money for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
by Sarah Harris, NZ Herald, 5 October 2017
A Kiwi actor - most famous for a stint in Lord of the Rings - is going to spend five months walking a 3000km track the length of New Zealand to raise $50,000 for grandparents raising their grandchildren...read more>>
The Grandparents that have to raise their Grandchildren
by Hannah Hill, Lifetime Retirement Income - News, 4 October 2017
For most of us, spending time and occasionally taking care of our grandchildren is one of the great joys of getting older. But what if you couldn’t hand them back at the end of the day? What if you had to raise your own grandchildren full time?...read more >>
Grandparent caregivers receive “dreadful” treatment - Scoop - Sunday 23 July 2017
Grandparents are unrecognised victims of the P crisis – we need to support them
by The Listener, Editorial 25 May 2017
To say we have a P epidemic seriously understates our methamphetamine situation. It’s the ultimate time bomb, with an ability to reach backwards as well as forwards in ruining the lives of three generations at once…read more>>
Insight: Meth - the human cost of a hit - Radio New Zealand - Sunday 22 May 2017
By Lois Williams
The call came out of the blue last week, for Margaret - a Whangarei grandmother. And yet it was one she'd been half-expecting for years. Her methamphetamine addicted daughter in Auckland had left her five children home alone. Someone called the police - and at 3am they'd picked them up. The eldest was 10 - the youngest, two... Read more >>
By Danica MacLean
More than 500 Northland children are being raised by their grandparents, and a trust responsible for supporting them says the main reason is methamphetamine use by their parents. Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Trust chief executive Kate Bundle said drug use was the number one reason for a child to be in their grandparents' care…read more>>
Meth a bigger problem than booze in forcing kids into grandparents' care, charity insists – TVNZ One News - Friday 19 May 2017
By Chris Chang
Charity group Grandparents Raising Grandchildren says meth is the key reason grandparents are stepping in to raise their grandchildren and in the last three years 1800 more families have reached out for help....read more >>
Grandparents step in as P epidemic spreads – Radio New Zealand – Friday 19 May 2017
By Lois Williams
Methamphetamine abuse is now behind almost every case where parents lose custody of their children, says the Grandparents Supporting Grandchildren Trust. Oranga Tamariki - formerly Child Youth and Family - said the addictive drug was implicated nearly every time it had to remove children from unsafe homes. Oranga Tamariki Whangarei manager Claire Burnton said use of meth, or 'P', appeared to be on the rise in Northland. "It's probably the single biggest factor in terms of children being exposed to harmful adult behaviour and therefore the need for Oranga Tamariki to become involved to create safety," she said. "It's huge."…read more>>
By Matt Calman
Wide-ranging research has laid bare the experiences of grandparents stepping up to raise grandchildren due to their own child’s battle with drugs. It places enormous financial, physical and emotional stress on grandparents at a time when they should be free to focus on retirement. Matt Calman delves into these findings and talks with some of the grandparents behind the data...read more>>
Grandparents have help for parenting - Wanganui Chronicle - 22 March 2017
By Paul Brooks
March 20-26 is Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Trust Awareness Week.
It's a growing trend where grandparents, through necessity, are having to raise their own grandchildren. The children's parents could be absent, incapable, unwilling or violent, leaving the grandparents to step in and assume responsibility, often at great cost - financially or otherwise - to themselves...read more>>
Meth abuse key reason grandparents are raising grandchildren - NZ Herald - 21 March 2017
By Sarah Harris
Methamphetamine crept into her children's lives, turning her daughter into a "zombie." As her children were unable to parent, Minaora* took over raising her grandchildren...read more>>
Grandparents raising Grandchildren Awareness - The Post (Franklin and North Waikato) - 21 March 2017
By Emma Sharplin
While most grandparents should be enjoying their retirement, over 6000 of them are currently raising their grandchildren. From Monday 20 March until Sunday 26 March, is Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Awareness Week...read more>>
Bouquet of the Week - River City Press - 15 December 2016
The recipient for RCP’s Bouquet of the Week is Jenny Morton. Jenny is the voluntary co-ordinator for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in Whanganui and with her partner, raises her great grand-daughter...read more>>
The group Grandparents Raising Grandparents (GRG) had their annual Christmas function in Kowhai Park from 11am t0 1pm last Saturday, December 10. Thanks to the Lions Club the children were able to...read more>>
Grandparent caregivers need greater support - CPAG
Voxy.co.nz Wednesday, 21 September, 2016 - 15:41
Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) says that If New Zealand’s new Ministry Oranga Tamariki is truly committed to supporting vulnerable children into better outcomes, then it must ensure that the older generation with grandchildren and mokopuna placed in their care must have access to the right kind of support, including adequate financial support, so that they too, don’t fall into poverty...read more>>
Grandparents caring for grandchildren struggle to make ends meet: survey
Grandparents raising grandchildren deal with effects of drugs, alcohol and neglect
Grandparents under strain raising 'P' babies
Radio NZ - Morning Report, 7 September 2016
Adriana Weber and Catherine Hutton
Grandparents caring for the children of drug-addict parents are struggling to make ends meet, research shows.
Freemasons NZ’s $30,000 Donation for Camps for Children in Grandparent Care
GRG News, 19 August 2016
GRG Speaks out at Justice for Moko rally
GRG News, 28 June 2016
Zizi Sparks, North Shore Times, 23 June 2016
The Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Trust is urging everyone to stand up against child abuse at a rally. Justice for Moko rallies are....read more>>
Pippa Brown, Rotorua Weekender, 6 May 2016
Lorna and Geoff Hurihanganui never dreamed they'd be raising a school-aged child in their 50's...Read more>>
Grandparents getting paid at last
Simon Collins, NZ Herald, 22 December 2015
Thirty-one grandparents who have not received the correct benefit for bringing up their grandchildren are in line for back pay averaging $20,000 to $30,000 each after Work and Income agreed to review their cases.
Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has told the support group Grandparents Raising Grandchildren that all the cases will be reviewed by the end of the year…read more>>
by Laurilee McMichael, Taupo and Turangi Weekender, 5 November 2015
With 9,500 grandparents raising around 17,000 children, the lack of support for grandparents acting as primary carers is a growing issue. Most children have come into their care because of a traumatic incident or family breakdown...Read more>>
by Stuart Whitaker, Bay of Plenty Times, 23 October 2015
By the time children reach their late teens, parents are likely to be thinking their days of raising youngsters are behind them. But, increasingly, more and more grandparents are finding that isn't necessarily the case. Sometimes without any warning, they find themselves once again looking after young children fulltime…read more>>
Radio New Zealand 24 September 2015
Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has outlined a major overhaul of Child, Youth and Family (CYF), which she says will involve much better tracking of children in state care and more contracting out to other organisations…read more >>
Scathing Report on CYF's Performance
by Simon Collins 24 September 2015
A review panel is scathing of Child, Youth and Family's performance, saying the current system is focused on immediate risks and containing costs at the expense of tackling harm and supporting long-term outcomes…read more >>
Pension funding planning falls short
by Simon Collins 15 August 2015
Almost two-thirds of New Zealanders nearing retirement have not yet worked out how much money they will need to keep afloat after retiring, a new survey has found. Read more in this NZ Herald article in which GRG Member Ann Wilson talks about the impact raising her grandchildren has had on her retirement planning…read more>>
Children 'not lab-rats' - Anne Tolley intervenes in child abuse experiment
by Stacey Kirk 30 July 2015
Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has halted an experiment which would have seen 60,000 children monitored for two years to see if they were abused.
A plan to treat vulnerable newborns as "lab rats" by sitting back for two years to see if they were abused has been blocked by the Government...read more>>
Grandparents raising grandchildren seek support
by Evan Harding, Southland Times July 8 2015
Increasing numbers of Invercargill grandparents who are raising their grandchildren are joining a support group as they get isolated from their friends and struggle to meet the financial demands.
Lynette Nielsen, the co-ordinator of Invercargill's Grandparents Raising Grandchildren support group, said 79 families had joined the group since it was activated three years ago...read more>>
Trust calls for earlier implementation of allowance for unsupported children and orphans
Maori Television Online News Team 10:29am, Monday 8 June 2015
A Trust supporting Grandparents raising their grandchildren has called for earlier implementation of an Amendment Bill that would see clothing allowances of around $1000 and $1685 per year provided for unsupported children and orphans.
Parity for clothing allowance - in 2018
New Zealand Herald 11:35 PM Wednesday Jun 3, 2015
A bill aiming to give financial parity between the carers of foster children and children raised by their grandparents was passed in Parliament tonight but it won’t take effect until 2018.
New Zealand Herald Sunday, 17 May 2015
A $30,000 grant will enable a knitting group to bring even more joy and love — and beanies and blankets — to deserving families.
6 R's to raising grandchildren
Wanganui Chronicle Friday, 24 April 2015
GRANDPARENTS Raising Grandchildren (GRG) Trust NZ, with local support groups, offers excellent support to grandparents who unexpectedly find themselves in a position where they are needed to raise their grandchildren.
Extra financial support for carers
New Zealand Herald 5:16 PM Sunday Dec 15, 2013
Carers who bring up children in their extended family will be eligible for more financial support to help with the job under new funding package announced by Social Development Minister Paula Bennett.
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren and the Welfare Reform
Friday, 26 July 2013, 4:00 pm
Press Release: Aotearoa NZ Association of Social Workers
Grandparent carers forced back to work
Stuff 08:18 25/07/2013
Grandparents who have spent years raising troubled grandchildren are being told to get back to work, sometimes just months from retirement. Support group Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (GRG) says this month's welfare shakeup has pushed many carers into looking for work as they fear having their benefit payments cut.