Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Support Groups: Where to Find Your People

Most of the people you know are talking about grandchildren, not raising them. Their social calendar looks different from yours. Their retirement looks different from yours. Their problems — travel plans, book clubs, empty nests — don't map onto your reality of school drop-offs, pediatric appointments, and court dates.

That isolation is one of the most consistent things grandparent caregivers describe. And it compounds everything else: the exhaustion, the grief for the life you expected, the guilt about your adult child, the confusion navigating systems designed for someone else.

Support groups won't solve the legal and financial complexity of kinship care. But they will remind you that you're not alone — and that turns out to matter enormously.

Why Support Groups Are Different for Grandfamilies

Grief is at the center of grandfamily caregiving in ways that general foster parent support groups often don't touch. You are grieving your own child's failures — the substance use, the incarceration, the mental illness that made them unavailable to their children. You are managing a loyalty split between the child you're raising and the adult child you love who caused the crisis. You are watching retirement recede into something you're not sure you'll ever reach.

These are not the conversations that happen in a generic parenting group.

A grandparent-specific support group gives you a room — physical or virtual — where other people understand that you're both a parent and a grandparent at the same time, and that those roles don't always fit together cleanly. Where you can say "I love my daughter but I'm furious at her" without anyone flinching. Where the question "is it normal to feel this angry?" gets answered by someone who has been exactly there.

Research on grandfamily outcomes consistently shows that social support is one of the most significant predictors of caregiver wellbeing. Grandparents who are connected to peer networks cope better with stress, demonstrate better physical health outcomes, and report higher levels of confidence in their caregiving role.

National Organizations Running Support Groups

Generations United / National Center on Grandfamilies The foremost national advocacy organization for grandfamilies, Generations United runs the annual "State of Grandfamilies" report and maintains a directory of local support programs. Their Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network (gksnetwork.org) connects caregivers to programs, resources, and policy updates.

AARP Grandparent Caregiver Resources AARP has dedicated content and community resources for grandparent caregivers — including local chapters that often host in-person support events. Because AARP has strong name recognition in the 50–70 age bracket, many grandfamilies find this as their first point of contact.

GrandFamilies.org A partnership between Generations United, the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, and Casey Family Programs. Offers a searchable legal database, a kinship legal toolkit, and links to local support resources by state.

GAMA (Grandparents as Parents) A nonprofit based in California that has been running support groups for grandparent caregivers since the 1980s and serves as a model for local programs nationally.

Family Resource Centers (FRCs) Family Resource Centers operate in 39 states and offer in-person support — parenting classes, food pantries, respite care referrals — with many specifically serving grandfamilies. Find yours through the National Family Support Network (nfpn.org).

How to Find a Local Support Group

Start with your state's kinship navigator program (most states have one) — they typically maintain lists of local support groups as part of their service directory.

Other search routes:

1. Call your local hospital social work department: Many hospitals maintain community resource lists that include grandfamily support groups, particularly those connected to pediatric or behavioral health services.

2. Contact your county Department of Social Services: Even if you're not in the formal foster care system, DSS offices often know about community support resources.

3. Search "grandparents raising grandchildren support group" + your county or city: Many groups are small, local, and not listed on national directories.

4. Try your local Area Agency on Aging (AAA): Because many grandparent caregivers are 60+, AAA offices often maintain connections to grandfamily support programs. Find your local AAA at eldercare.acl.gov.

5. Ask at your child's school: School counselors and social workers often know about local resources and may be able to connect you to other grandfamily households in the district.

Online and Virtual Support Groups

If local options are limited — or if your schedule doesn't allow consistent attendance at in-person meetings — online communities provide real connection.

Reddit (r/KinshipCare and r/Fosterparents) These communities have active membership from relative caregivers at all stages. The tone is raw and honest — not polished advocacy, but real peer support. Posts about "what I wish I knew" and "I'm completely overwhelmed" tend to generate thoughtful responses from caregivers further along the road.

Facebook Groups Search "grandparents raising grandchildren" or "kinship caregivers" in Facebook Groups. Many are local or state-specific. The benefit: they're active daily and don't require scheduled attendance.

Kinship & Grandfamilies Virtual Support Sessions Generations United and affiliated organizations periodically offer virtual support sessions and webinars. Check gksnetwork.org and gu.org for upcoming events.

For families in the UK, Kinship (formerly Grandparents Plus) runs specific support groups and an online community at kinship.org.uk. In Australia, Anglicare, Barnardos, and state-specific kinship care agencies offer support programs for relative carers.

What to Expect When You First Attend

The first session is usually the hardest. You may not share anything. That's fine. Most long-term support group participants say they spent the first one or two sessions just listening — and that listening alone was enough to shift something.

You'll likely find:

• People further along who have figured out things you're still struggling with
• People at the same stage who make you feel less alone
• Practical information shared casually that you never would have found on your own
• Permission to feel whatever you're actually feeling

What you probably won't find: judgment about your adult child, pressure to have it all figured out, or expectations to be positive.

Beyond Emotional Support: Navigating the Practical

Support groups are essential but they don't replace a clear understanding of your legal options, financial benefits, and rights within the child welfare system. Many caregivers leave support group meetings with new emotional resources but the same unresolved questions about guardianship, Medicaid, school enrollment, or TANF applications.

The Kinship & Relative Care Navigation Guide fills that gap — providing step-by-step guidance on the legal and financial dimensions of kinship care so that your support group time can focus on what those groups do best: human connection, peer wisdom, and the knowledge that you're not walking this road alone.

The People in That Room Know

They know what it's like to love a child you didn't expect to be raising. They know what it costs — financially, physically, emotionally. They know the guilt and the love and the exhaustion and the fierce protectiveness that comes with it.

Find your group. Go once. The second time is easier.