Commission Sub-Committees

The Commission on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren has had the honor of hearing from thousands of grandparents and relative caregivers throughout Massachusetts over the past 10 years. The Commission embarked on two listening tours, one in 2009 and one in 2016, and the information gathered has helped the Commission formulate it’s mission and programming to better serve kinship families in Massachusetts. The Commission created four sub-committees that meet to improve services and information for grandparents and kinship caregivers throughout Massachusetts. Each sub-committee has a Chair person from the Commission and is supported from volunteers from the community such as grandparents and relative caregivers as well as service providers. If you, or someone you know, are interested in joining one of the sub-committees, please contact us.
Legal information and access to legal services Lynn Girton, chair

The Legal Sub-Committee of the Commission focuses on many issues. Its members give presentations throughout the state to grandparents who are raising grandchildren and various service agencies about the legal relationship between the grandparent and the grandchild. As a part of these efforts, the Sub-Committee creates resource materials that help grandparents raising grandchildren understand their rights and responsibilities. This Sub-Committee also works on expanding the legal resources that are available to grandparents. We advocate with various publicly funded legal services programs to provide lawyers to eligible grandparents seeking to obtain either guardianship or adoption of the child for whom they are caring. We approach various bar associations to see if they are able to make additional resources available to such grandparents. You can find information on legal resources on this page as well as in the Helpful Links section on this website. Finally, members of this Sub-Committee review and comment upon proposed legislation that might impact on grandparents raising grandchildren. Members also inform other members of the Commission about relevant court decisions or changes in practice in the courts.

The Information and Referral Sub-Committee focusses on providing the most up to date and accurate information and resources for grandparents and relative caregivers. This sub-committee recently revised the Commission’s website which now includes information about support groups, financial resources, legal resources, and more. The Information and Referral sub-committee also publishes a quarterly newsletter. Additionally, this sub-committee produced the Tip-Sheet series for grandparents and providers which can be found on the website in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

The Resource Development Sub-Committee: Ilene Mitchell, Chair: The Resource Development sub-committee works to expand the resources available to grandparents and relative caregivers by researching grant opportunities, developing new programming, and working with donors to assist grandfamilies.

The Support Group Sub-Committee, Debbie Dowd-Foley, Chair: The Support Group sub-committee focuses on supporting the over 45 support groups for grandparents raising grandchildren through the meetings, community events, and trainings. This group oversees the Statewide Resource Network of support group facilitators from across the state and the group meets quarterly to discuss issues and concerns of grandparents throughout the Commonwealth. The Support Group Su-Committee offers trainings and supports for existing support groups as well as anyone who is interested in creating a support group for grandparents raising grandchildren. Most recently this group has been responsible for providing community workshops throughout the state (see events for more details). Additionally, this group proudly oversees and plans the Commission’s “Annual Conference for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren and Service Providers.”