ABSTRACT
Substance use disorders not only affect parents engaged in addictive behavior, they affect entire families. By developing awareness of challenges faced by grandfamilies, families in which a grandparent or other relative is raising a relative’s child(ren), social workers and other professionals are better equipped to support, empower, and increase grandfamily resilience, and decrease negative impacts of a parent’s addictive behavior. The impact of parental substance misuse on grandfamilies is not a new challenge: for generations grandparents have provided safe havens for grandchildren whose parents are unable or unavailable to parent. Grandfamilies affected by a parent’s substance misuse may experience unique social, financial, physical, and mental health challenges. Despite multiple challenges encountered by grandparents raising grandchildren, many grandfamilies are resilient and resourceful. This chapter provides an overview of grandfamilies and the impact on grandparents and grandchildren when a parent’s addictive behavior interferes with successful parenting. The strengths perspective is presented in terms of family resilience and resourcefulness, as are interventions and best practices for building resilience in grandfamilies. The chapter concludes with an analysis of future directions for research and interventions related to grandfamilies affected by a parent’s substance use disorder.
