According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 70,044 Michigan grandparents were raising their grandchildren. There were 183,621 Michigan children living with relatives in 2000: 143,523 with grandparent, 40,098 with other relatives.

It is census time again. Every 10 years our national effort to account for the population of the country gives us an idea of how American communities are best served.

As part of an April planning session last Spring, The Public Policy Institute in central Florida invited me to speak to the trends and needs of all kinship care providers – adults caring for seniors and frail adults, as well as grandparents and other relatives raising children.

What will happen to me if you die? That is the concern of many young children in kinship care.

Alone. That is how many grandparents and other relatives describe their kinship care situation.