Carer grandparents feel taken for granted: study

Grandparents who take on the role of rearing grandchildren in lieu of drug-abusing parents feel taken for granted by social services, according to new research conducted by Trinity College Dublin.

In addition to the stresses and strains directly associated with this kind of care-giving, grandparents reported considerable dissatisfaction with the support they receive from both the child protection system and the adult addiction treatment system and were generally of the view that there is poor integration between the two.

In particular, they were critical of the attitudes of child protection social workers who, it was suggested, believe that grandparent carers in these circumstances do not need or deserve formal support.