Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, Nashville PBS’ latest Aging Matters documentary, premieres on WNPT Friday, Dec. 20, at 8 p.m. and will be followed at 8:30 p.m. by Raised by Grandparents, a panel discussion in which grandkids share their perspective.
These programs will also be available at www.pbs.org and on the PBS app. Grandparents Raising Grandchildren re-airs on the main channel Monday, Dec 30, at 11:30 p.m. and Monday, Jan. 6, at 9 p.m. The documentary airs on WNPT2 World Channel Saturday, Dec. 21, at 5 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 22, at 1 p.m.
Grandparents end up taking responsibility for their grandchildren for many reasons, most of them resulting from some sort of traumatic event, says Ana Beltran, director of Generations United’s Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network, in Grandparents Raising Grandchildren. Anything from parental substance abuse to incarceration to military deployment can necessitate grandparents taking over the parental duties. “The data is not perfect, but we say about 2.5 million children are being raised by grandparents and other kin caregivers,” Beltran says.
Three grandfamilies, or kinship families as they are sometimes called, are featured in the film. The caregiver must contend with issues involving finances, fatigue and loneliness as they find themselves in an unusual space. “We’re in two different environments, but we don’t belong in either,” Jeff Ward says in the film. “We’re in a child raising environment, we’re in a retired environment and we don’t belong in either group.”
“It’s not normal, but it’s our normal,” says grandparent Dawna Gutierrez in the documentary.
Several resources and ideas to help grandparents in caregiving roles are presented in the documentary. These are put forth by representatives of Foster 180 (Lebanon, Tenn.), Generations United (Washington, D.C.), the Knoxville-Knox County CAC Office on Aging Grandparents as Parents Program, and the Shelby County Relative Caregiver Program. Additional state-specific resources are listed at wnpt.tv/grandfamilies.
Despite the challenges faced by grandfamilies, the rewards of children being raised by relatives has been documented and noted by state and other agencies. “There are many benefits, decades of research in fact, that show that children who are raised by kin rather than non-kin do better, that they have better behavioral health outcomes, social emotional outcomes, educational outcomes,” Beltran says. “These folks know them, know their family, and they feel like they belong.”
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren was produced by managing senior producer Shawn Anfinson, whose most recent documentary, Next Door Neighbors: Born in the USA, premiered in November 2024 and was about the growing influence of second-generation Americans.
Major funding for Aging Matters is provided by the West End Home Foundation, The Jeanette Travis Foundation, and The HCA Healthcare Foundation, on behalf of Tristar Health, and AARP Tennessee. Additional funding provided by Jackson National Life Insurance Company and the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.