Reunification in Custodial Grandfamilies: An Examination of Resilient Family Processes

• Published date: 01 February 2021
• Author: Megan L. Dolbin‐MacNab,Gregory C. Smith,Bert Hayslip
• Date: 01 February 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12487

M L. D-MNVirginia Tech

G C. SKent State University

B H, J.University of North Texas

Reunication in Custodial Grandfamilies: An

Examination of Resilient Family Processes

Objective: This study examined how custodial

grandmothers navigated the process of their

grandchildren being reunied with a biological

parent.

Background: Prior research has focused on

factors associated with unsuccessful reunica-

tion instead of resilient family processes that

may support successful reunication. How cus-

todial grandfamilies navigate reunication has

not been examined, despite their unique rela-

tional conguration and grandparents’ frequent

involvement in raising their grandchildren.

Method: Guided by Walsh’s model of family

resilience, semistructured, in-depth qualitative

interviews were conducted with a convenience

sample of 17 grandmothers whose custodial

grandchildren had been reunied with a bio-

logical parent. Data analysis was guided by

grounded theory methodology.

Results: Grandmothers believed in parents

fullling their obligations, prioritizing grand-

children’s needs, and coping via their faith.

Grandmothers supported reunied parents and

children by providing emotional support and

instrumental assistance, while maintaining

clear role boundaries. Accessing resources

Department of Human Development and Family Science,

Virginia Tech, 840 University City Boulevard, Suite 1

(0515), Blacksburg, VA 24060 (mdolbinm@vt.edu).

Key Words: Grandfamilies, grandparents raising grandchil-

dren, kinship care, resilience,reunication.

and engaging in open family communication

were helpful to the reunication, although

there were still challenges in navigating family

relationships.

Conclusion: Within custodial grandfamilies,

not all reunications were a positive out-

come for the grandchildren. Grandmothers

remained heavily involved in supporting and

monitoring the reunications, with the quality

of the grandmother–parent relationship being

paramount.

Implications: Practitioners should address

family dynamics when working with custo-

dial grandfamilies before, during, and after a

reunication.

When children are living in dangerous circum-

stances or being maltreated, removing them

from their homes and temporarily placing them

in care of others—namely, custodial grandpar-

ents or other relatives (i.e., kinship care)—can

help ensure their safety. In the context of child

welfare policy, specically the Adoption and

Safe Families Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-89), reunit-

ing children with their birth parents or family

of origin is a primary permanency goal (Font

et al., 2018; Kimberlin et al., 2009). Federal

law also mandates permanency hearings within

12months of a child entering care to mitigate

the disruption associated with excessively long

placements; this results in many reunications

occurring within a year of a child’s removal

Family Relations 70 (February 2021): 225–245225

DOI:10.1111/fare.12487

226 Family Relations

from the home (Bellamy, 2008; Kimberlin

et al., 2009; Wulczyn, 2004). Ideally, reunica-

tions will be successful, meaning that the child

will be able to live safely and permanently with

their biological parents (Kimberlin et al., 2009).

Unfortunately, this is not always the case: Only

half of children in foster care are ever reuni-

ed,andwithin5 years,approximately20%of

those children return to foster care (Font et al.,

2018).

For approximately 30% of the children in

foster care, the permanency process involves

reunifying them with their biological parents

after being cared for by grandparents or other

relatives (Generations United, 2018). How-

ever, for every child in formal kinship care

via the child welfare system, another 20 chil-

dren are being raised informally by relatives

(Generations United, 2018). When reunication

occurs for these children, it is negotiated within

the family. Although state and federal child

welfare policies emphasize placing children

withrelativeswheneverpossible(42 U.S.C.§

671(a)(19); Beltran, 2014), little is known about

how custodial grandfamilies, or families in

which grandparents are raising their grandchil-

dren, navigate the reunication process. Even

less is known about how grandfamilies engaged

in informal care arrangements experience reuni-

cation. More broadly, because the reunication

literature has primarily emphasized barriers to

reunication, there is a need for information

about successful reunication and resilience fac-

tors that help families maintain a reunication

(Kimberlin et al., 2009; Lietz & Strength, 2011;

Thomas et al., 2005; Wulczyn, 2004). Also

needed are studies that capture reunication as a

dynamic process (Wulczyn, 2004) that unfolds

within a family system over time. Toadvance the

understanding of reunication in grandfamilies,

this qualitative study used a family resilience

framework (Walsh, 2003, 2012) to address the

following research question: “How do custodial

grandmothers navigate the process of their

grandchildren being reunied with a biological

parent?” In considering this research question,

we primarily focused on those family processes

relevant to the maintenance of a successful

reunication.

A Family Resilience Perspective

on Grandfamilies

While much of the reunication literature could

be characterized by a decit focus, a family

resilience perspective suggests that grandfami-

lies pursuing and maintaining reunication have

the ability to confront adversity and emerge

stronger than they were before the reunication

(Lietz & Strength, 2011; Thomas et al., 2005;

Walsh,2003, 2012). Similarly, the grandfamilies

literature has increasingly examined the ways in

which custodial grandparents and their grand-

children are resilient, despite the many chal-

lenges and adversities they experience (Hayslip

& Smith, 2013). Walsh’s (2003, 2012) fam-

ily resilience model, which guided this study,

emphasizes specic processes by which grand-

families adapt, grow, and change in response to

challenges so that they emerge in a better posi-

tion to cope with future adversity and can main-

tain a successful reunication.

According to Walsh (2003, 2012), various

resilient or adaptive family processes may

contribute to successful reunication within

grandfamilies. One of these adaptive processes

is the family’s belief system, wherein the family

is able to make meaning of their challenging

circumstances and maintain a positive outlook

via optimism, condence, and acceptance of

their situation (Walsh, 2012). Additionally,

the family’s spiritual beliefs also provide a

sense of meaning and purpose and may aid in

coping with stress (Lietz & Strength, 2011;

Walsh, 2012). Within the context of grandfami-

lies, grandparents often make positive meanings

of their family circumstances, for example,

a second chance at parenting and giving the

grandchild a better life, through benet nding,

empowerment, optimism, and positive care-

giving appraisals (Castillo et al., 2013; Cox &

Chesek, 2012; Dolbin-MacNab & Keiley, 2006;

Smith & Dolbin-MacNab, 2013; Waldrop &

Weber, 2001). Additionally, grandparent spiri-

tuality and religiosity have been positively asso-

ciated with enhanced coping with the stressors

associated with raising grandchildren (Bachman

& Chase-Lansdale, 2005; Lawrence-Webb &

Okundaye, 2012; Neely-Barnes et al. 2010).

Another aspect of resilient family processes

is organizational patterns that emphasize exi-

bility and adaptability in the face of challenges

and interpersonal connectedness marked by

family collaboration, support, and commitment

(Walsh, 2012). Also important are adequate

social and economic resources, including

those derived from both formal and infor-

mal support systems (Lietz & Strength, 2011;

Walsh,2012). Grandfamilies embody all of these