ECE 355 Understanding Behavior & Family Dynamics

I live in Texas, and the information I was able to receive is there are 862,624 children under the age 18 live in homes where the householders are grandparents or other relatives (12.6% of the children in the state.) (U.S. 2010 Census) o of these, 653,556 live with grandparents who are the householders (9.5% of the children in the state) and 209,068 live with other relatives who are the householders (3.1% of the children in the state). (U.S. 2010 Census.)  313, 499 children live in homes with grandparent householders where grandparents are responsible for them*   o of these children, 100,399 have no parents present in the home. *  The Grandparents* 289,530 grandparents are the householders and are responsible for their grandchildren living with them. Of these: o 36% of the grandparents are White and not Hispanic, 17% are Black/African American, 1% are Asian, and 45% are Hispanic/Latino, and may be of any race. o 34% have no parents of the children present in the home. o 71% are under age 60. o 23% live in poverty. ** 25,497 grandparents in Houston city, 18,488 grandparents in San Antonio city, and 13,665 grandparents in Dallas city are the householders and are responsible for their grandchildren living with them.  Comparable data are not currently available for homes where other relatives are the householders.  100% of poverty level.  Data not specifically cited are taken from the U.S. Census Bureau 2005-2009 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Detailed Table B09006 and Subject Tables S1001 and S1002. Sometimes state child welfare agencies place children in foster care with grandparents or other relatives. This is often called “kinship care.” Federal law requires states to notify all known relatives within 30 days of children’s removal from their parents. In 2010 in Texas: 26,686 children/youth spent some time in out-of-home care   6,767 of these children/youth were placed in certified relative/kinship care, 19,919 of these children/youth were placed in non-certified relative/kinship care Placement Policies Texas state law requires that kin be considered first when an out-of-home placement is sought for a child. There is no separate verification program for kinship foster parents and kin must meet the same licensing standards and receive the same foster care payment rate as non-kin. Subsidized Guardianship in Texas, the subsidized guardianship program is called the Permanency Care Assistance (PCA) program. The PCA program provides assistance to relatives and other designated caregivers who have served as verified foster parents for the child for six months and who have subsequently taken permanent managing conservatorship of the child. Kinship families are eligible for PCA if reunification and adoption are ruled out as permanency plan options, the child demonstrates a strong attachment to the kinship caregiver, older youth are consulted about the PCA plan, and the kinship family enters into a PCA Agreement with the Department of Family and Protective Services after negotiating the monthly assistance payment.

Explain the impact this type of situation may have on family relationships and the development of the child.

There is a big impact on both the children and grandparent, I have the pleasure of been one of the grandparents. Your life change and they life change I am the mother of three children after I raise my three I was asking to raise my niece and nephew. I couldn’t say no they were in an abuse situation, first my niece she was about six months old and later her brother. One impact was finance, at the time my husband and I was just living off very low income.  We had to go to the system for food any money, I was the only one working and he was getting social security because he was sick.  We struggle to provide for all five children, that mean that had to come up short on clothes, shoes and any type of personal things.  For the holly days we all went to organization to get help for the kids for Christmas, and other events.  As the children got older it was things that they couldn’t have or predicate in school because of finance, and they felt left out.  Some years later after all the other ones was grown I had to do the same things with my grandchildren. I have had them since the young’s one were too, now she is eleven and the oldest one is sixteen. But we getting through it all, things are much better now and they are growing up and things are much easier. But I came a lone way. ECE 355 Understanding Behavior & Family Dynamics

Discuss your role in supporting families where the grandparents are raising their grandchildren.

I support the grandparents all the way in my situation I didn’t have any choice I rather see my grandchildren at home with me instead in the system and I went got them.  I have no regrets, I can’t say at my age that I would do it all over again, but I know that God have bless me dearly and there is nothing I need that I don’t have now.

Reference:

AARP grandfacts@aarp.org

 www.parent support bc.ca/uploads/30/fe/30fe3ee16207a65e61af2e4ea90b

Week 2 Assignment Working with Family

Importance of building relationships with families

Good relationships promote healthy growth stages of the toddlers and infants into successful adults. Positive relationships contribute to a healthy positive parent-child relationship that helps the child in early learning and healthy development of the child. The child is able to set on a successful path in life by learning how to manage emotions, solve existing problems, adjust to new situations, solve conflicts and able to get along with papers and other adults in the society. Positive healthy relationships in a family help improve the financial situation of the family and improve health and safety of the child.

Research-based strategies that help to build relationships with families.

There are many strategies that are inbuilt to deal with the relationship handles that are facing the 21st century families. There strategies aim to improve family engagements. One of them is, have an adequate and welcoming space to engage families. This strategy helps to give a family a strong foundation. It ensures that the families draw closer to each other. This can be achieved through summer programs and community learning centers that help families feel more close to each other through setting up of ‘family corner’. Another strategy is to communicate and build trusting relationships. Enquiring about family members’ lives and interests shows concern and creates a sense of togetherness. Also, it ensures that there is general mutual respect among family members and a need to keep close and keep in each other’s lives. Also talking about more positive issues keeps a healthy relationship going (Little, 2006).

Another is helping to support families and their basic needs through providing access to community resources, hosting forums and discussion nights in order to address topics of concern to family members. These kind of initiatives help families to overcome challenges such transportation that may affect children participation. Community school partnerships can be

expanded in order to provide information to a community through community resources that help address various issues (Little, 2006).

Parenting styles which align with the strategies above.

Some of the parenting styles that can work well with the strategies named above include authoritative parenting. This is the type of parenting that involves the parent and the child having a discussion \. It is directed in a more rational and issue oriented way. There is a discussion about the ways the parent chooses to discipline the child and the reasons for it. There are expectations drawn, assigning of responsibilities to the child and explanation of the consequences that will follow once the child does not adhere to the laid down rules. The parent lays down the rules but doesn’t force the child too much and gives him/ her the space to be their own person. She/ he recognizes the child’s interests and thus sets standards that act as a guideline to the child’s development. There is a self-confidence displayed in the child and developed social skills. There is a use of power, reason and reinforcement to achieve objectives that both the child and the parent agreed on (Baumrind, 1967).

The authoritarian parenting styles would not work to promote positive healthy relationship with the parent and child as it encourages forceful measures to the child and there is no reasoning. The permissive parenting also doesn’t help as the parent is subject to the child’s every whim so there is no proper judgement of the situation.

Resources for each strategy that will help in the family relationship.

In communication and better establishment of trust in the family, it is important for the family to engage in family partnerships, this involves family and children program staff together with the children engaging in various tasks. These helps the children to develop and grow into people of character through earning in different environments and emulating the behavior of the grownups. The partnerships help the staff and parents achieve a common goal of understanding the child’s strength, challenges and interests. This can be assisted in summer after school programs that help the parents and the children to bond and understand each other (TNCP, 2016). ECE 355 Understanding Behavior & Family Dynamics

In having an adequate and welcoming space to engage families, understanding of their family lives and family cultures help in influencing building of certain types of relationships. Culture is a key role in helping the family grow through understanding of the history and the values that the culture stand for. Participation of cultural events help to promote these bonds as they make the families more aware of wo they are and they also help the child develop an attitude of who he or she is and what is expected of them. This helps in growth of the mind and helps the child to relate better with people in his/ her professional and personal life (TNCP, 2016).

Lastly, helping to support families and their basic needs through provisions of necessary services especially for the low income earning families and the community living below the poverty line, helps the family develop healthy relationships. Health services and education programs for the children and the rest of the family members ensure safety and health of family and children. Also engaging in community services help the family and the children to bond more and understand each other. This helps the family especially parents to be aware of developing characters in the children and thus help them develop into better more structured people so as to promote better growth, this in future will help the child to be able to fit in the society and help to relate better with other people in the society. It also helps the families to respect each other more and to learn each other (TNCP, 2016).

References

Baumrind, D. (1966). Child Development. Effects of Authoratative Control on Child Behavior, 37(4), 887-907.

Knitzer, J. (2006). Helping the Most Vulnerable Infants, Toddlers, and Ther Families. PATHWAYS TO EARLY SCHOOL SUCCESS, 8.

Little, P. (2006). Evidence-Based Strategies for Supporting and Enhancing Family Engagement. Expanding Minds and Opportunities: The power of Afterschool and summer Learning for Student Success, 1.

TNCP. (2016). Building Partnerships: Guide to Developing Relationships . The National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement, 33.

Week 3 discussion 2