Grandparents raising grandchildren is a hidden population and state agencies have been researching the situation.

When we talk about grandparents raising grandchildren, we are NOT talking about part-time day care or spending the weekends with the little ones. We are talking about a significant portion of the population caring for grandchildren 24/7.


"Even though census data says that there are about 33,000 grandchildren in the state of Hawaii being cared for by about 14,000 grandparents. They're a hidden population. There's no grandparents club they all hang out at, because they're too busy taking care of the children," said Lori Yancura, U.H. Family & Consumer Services.

And that population is growing by more than thirty percent in the last decade. There are a variety of reasons why the parents are missing from the picture.


"The children's parents are on drugs or incarcerated. But sometimes it's just because the children's parents work long hours, or they're on the mainland in the middle of a divorce," said Yancura.

Aside from keeping the children out of the foster care system, the grandparents are saving the state about 17 million dollars a month. In doing her needs assessment survey, Yancura heard from grandparents about would make their lives easier.

"And probably the number one need was children's programs. They wanted somewhere for the kids to be after school, during school because they needed some rest. Children's programs, financial assistance," said Yancura.

Yancura is trying to raise awareness among state agencies AND the grandparents themselves.

"One of the things that we found is a lot of grandparents are not seeking help. And they don't know that there are services available. So we'd like to raise awareness and let them know that the local area agencies on aging are there to help them."

Yancura's findings will be presented to the legislature when it convenes in January.