GrandFamilies
of America has much to share with you in the way of general news, legislative initiatives, new partnerships, and outcomes
from recent events. We hope you will enjoy the web site updates. Some of our new links are under construction, but all links
will be completed soon, thanks to the hard work of our web masters, Teana Filson (Maryland), and Deb Fales (Delaware).
I will attempt to explain some of the new links.
Our legal link will contain the latest in legal case law and changes in family law across the country. In addition,
our attorney Susan Taylor will be writing articles for the web site. She continues to be available through the site to anyone
in the country who might have legal questions they would like to have answered. She has an extensive file of legal statues
across the country, and although she is not licensed of course to practice outside Indiana,
she can give you invaluable general information regarding relatives attempting to secure a legal relationship with the children
in their care.
Our legislative link will offer the latest in federal legislation, the legislative goals of GrandFamilies of America,
and the latest in legislative successes in the field of relative caregiving across the country.
The speaker’s bureau is a link that all of us are very excited about. This link will feature those individuals
from our staff who have particular expertise in the field of relatives caring for relative children. You will be able to secure
their services for your next kinship event. If you engage one of them for a presentation to your group, they will also bring
with them unique resource materials and power points from our library, developed by our caregivers who are walking the walk
for caregivers.
Our grand teens (ages 11 to 23) and grand kids (ages 10 and under) where children who are being raised by relatives can
exchange thier
experiences. This is something that we are very excited about!! These links will be closely monitored by its coordinator Micah
Bufford, and Teana Filson and Debbie Fales. There will be games and other special activities for the younger children.
The rest of the links are not new, but have undergone extensive updating and some are still under construction. Another
link soon to be added will be our store, where many of our resources and logo materials, will be offered for sale. All of
our resource materials and logo items are trademarked.
GrandFamilies of America
CEO, Opal Bufford, her daughter Teana Filson, son-in-law, and two brothers, have now settled in Thurmont, Maryland. As most of you know that is the same
town in which our president Pat Owens lives. Teana Filson, Opal’s daughter, will be running the national office and
the Maryland office of Solutions For Children and Caregivers
of Maryland, on a full time basis. This will enable Opal and Pat spend a large portion of their time in Washington, D. C. advocating for changes in laws that will benefit relative caregivers of
children and the children in their care.
RECENT EVENTS:
Pat Owens, President of GrandFamilies of America, was honored to receive the AARP
national advocate award at the recent Generations United Conference. It was an exceptional night when one of our youth advisors,
Megan Bufford, also received the youth award. Many of GrandFamilies staff and their families were there to share in the special
evening. Pat was also honored in September by the Department of Human Resources for the state of Maryland for her tireless advocacy on behalf of kinship providers and the children they
are raising.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
GrandFamilies of America staff is keeping very busy fulfilling the many requests for
them to present. Plans are well under way for the 3rd GrandRally to take
place once again at our nation’s capitol in Washington, D. C. Save the date!! It is going to be May 7th,
with GrandFamilies of America holding their first full day conference the day before on May 6th. The conference will be held
at the national AARP office. There will be no charge for this conference and a continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.
You will not want to miss the all-star line up for this first ever conference, which will be comprised totally of caregivers
presenting for caregivers. You will want to register early, as space is limited. Only the first 100 people registering will
be allowed to participate. We will be posting the conference agenda very soon, along with the registration form, which
you can download and mail to us. We will also be holding computer labs throughout the day, to train anyone interested in the
AARP Quick Link Benefit program.
GrandFamilies of America
have recently finalized two very important contracts, which will financially allow us to expand our local to state to federal
networks. We are very excited about these new partnerships. More details on this later, but one initiative very near and dear
to our president, are the monthly conference calls. This enables new and current members to meet each other and exchange ideas.
We have now exceeded the initial number of ports for these calls and have just had to increase the number to 40. The added
funds from our new partnerships will help keep this vital form of communication available to those interested in participating.
As everyone knows, a national organization like GrandFamilies of America faces geographical challenges. This outreach is helping
us become stronger.
For more information on
how you can become part of our grand family, go to our contact page and contact one of our officers, or call the toll free
number and someone will return your call promptly. This line is monitored 24 hours a day. Tax-deductible donations may be
sent to our national office. We look forward to hearing from you!!
Sincerely,
Pat Owens
President GrandFamilies of America
