Conversation struck up on twitter about the West Virginians for Affordable Health Care Kid’s Roundtable, which consisted of many WVU faculty across multiple disciplines.
Here is a snippet from WVNews of moderator Joshua Austin, the Health Plan Director of Provider Strategic Initiatives, as referenced by Kelli Caseman above:
One thing I believe we need to be paying attention to more than ever are the rising numbers of grandparents raising their grandchildren across Appalachia. I thought the phase ‘silent epidemic’ used by Austin was especially insightful as to how we as a region have looked past this issue.
Starting last Tuesday, the Healthy Grandparents Programstarted its first of 10 discussion meetings to give additional parenting information to grandparents raising their grandchildren, according to Kailee Gallahan’s article, “Healthy Grandfamilies program provides grandparents with resources and support,” from the Exponent Telegram.
According to the article, the first step in the program is a home visit to identify the individual needs of each family.
Another organization that is focusing on grandparents in the same situation is TEAM for West Virginia Children. Their blog features donations and resources for grandfamilies. Just like the foster care system, which has been greatly impacted by the opioid crisis, grandfamilies in the region also need many resources and programs to help improve their situation
Foster Care in Appalachia 