In the District, some grandparents are urging lawmakers to continue funding for a program that helps them support their grandchildren.

Jessica Forres reports....


Inside her grandmother's one-bedroom apartment, Tierra Joppy who is eight years old, remembers when her classmates cruelly teased her about her clothes...

AND MY GRANDMOTHER WOULD SAY THAT'S ALL WE CAN GET BECAUSE WE WAS BROKE.

Balinda Cunningham...Tierra's grandmother...says social security wasn't enough to cover all of her expenses...eventually they were forced to live in a homeless shelter. They were there for two years...

TIERRA HAD TO SLEEP IN A TENT ON THE FLOOR AND THEN SHE COULDN'T SLEEP IN THE BED BECAUSE THE MICE WOULD CRAWL UP IN THE BED.

Last summer, things started looking up - when they were accepted into the Grandparent Caregiver Pilot Program, which allows eligible grandparents to receive the same child care subsidies that are given to foster parents.

But Cunningham is worried the three-year pilot program will be cut when it sunsets at years end.

WE PRAY HARD EVERY DAY, EVERY NIGHT THAT WE CAN SURVIVE AND IF THE SUBSIDY IS CUT OFF I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M GOING TO DO.

Councilmember Tommy Wells supports the program, but concedes that expansion to cover 1-hundred and fifty children on the waiting list is unlikely.

IT WILL BE DIFFICULT TO EXPAND THE PROGRAM WHEN THE CITY'S FACING A 3-HUNDRED MILLION DOLLAR FINANCIAL SHORTFALL.

A-A-R-P says the percentage of children in D-C living in a household headed by a grandparent is more than twice the national average.

Jessica Forres WAMU 885 News…
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A-A-R-P is urging lawmakers from DC to continue subsidizing low-income residents who are raising their grandchildren by themselves.

Jessica Forres reports…

Balinda Cunningham and her granddaughter Tierra Joppy, who is eight, are sitting in the living room of their apartment in Southeast, DC...

HER MOTHER WAS HAVING SOME PROBLEMS AND WASN'T ABLE TO CARE FOR HER AS A PARENT. IF NOT TIERRA WOULD HAVE BEEN IN FOSTER CARE. AND HER FATHER IS NO WHERE AROUND IT WAS UP TO ME AND MY SOCIAL SECURITY.

But social security wasn't enough to cover her expenses...

THE BILLS WERE JUST TOO MUCH WE JUST COULDN'T MAKE IT SO WE WERE EVICTED AND WE LIVED IN A SHELTER FOR TWO YEARS.

Last summer, she was accepted into the Grandparent Caregiver Pilot Program, which gives grandparents the same child care subsidies that are given to foster parents. Denise Rolark-Barnes is with AARP… hopes the city will make the program permanent at yearsend and will also cover those on the waiting list....

THE FOSTER CARE SYSTEM COSTS ABOUT 40-THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR FOR ONE CHILD THAT GOES INTO THE FOSTER SYSTEM. THE GRANDPARENT PROGRAM COST 7-HUNDRED DOLLARS A MONTH.

Councilmember Tommy Wells supports continuing the subsidies, but is doubtful the program will be expanded....

IT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE TO CUT THE SUBSIDY OFF… THE DIFFICULT THING WILL BE ANY EXPANSION OF THE PROGRAM SINCE WE HAVE A SEVERE BUDGET DEFICIT THE CITY IS FACING.

A-A-R-P says the percentage of children in D-C who live in a household headed by a grandparent is more than twice the national average.

Jessica Forres WAMU 885 News