The crisis of opioid abuse that is ravaging our state and our country is truly an epidemic. There were 376 deaths from drug overdose here in Maine last year, more than 52,000 nationwide — numbers that exceed the lives lost to car accidents, breast cancer, or a host of other causes.
Those statistics are shocking. Here is one that is heartbreaking: last year, nearly 1,000 babies in Maine — that’s about 8 percent of all births — were born to women addicted to opioids and other drugs. In the United States, a baby is born with an opioid addiction every 25 minutes, more than two per hour.
In this crisis, as in past crises, grandparents are coming to the rescue. Grandparents who help raise grandkids together with the child’s parents can support healthy aging and be a positive experience for all involved. Across the country, however, some 2.5 million children are being raised solely by grandparents. These “custodial grandparents” are called on to help for a number of reasons, including alcohol and drug addiction, physical abuse, incarceration, divorce, financial difficulties, military deployment, and even death.
In Maine, the number of children being raised solely by their grandparents increased by 24 percent between 2010 and 2015.
The Senate Aging Committee, which I chair, recently held a hearing on the growing phenomenon of grandparents raising grandchildren because the parents are struggling with addiction and can no longer care for their children. The purpose of our hearing was to recognize the grandparents raising grandkids and to explore what can be done to assist them as they take on this unanticipated challenge motivated by their love of their grandchildren.
At a time in life when most seniors are looking forward to enjoying more leisure time, these grandparents have found themselves as parents once again. They are waking up in the middle of the night to feed babies and planning afternoons around soccer practice, rather than playing golf or volunteering.
Raising a second family also involves costs that they had never anticipated as they budgeted for what was supposed to be their golden years. They are tapping into retirement savings, going back to work, or staying in the workforce longer just to make ends meet. In addition to the financial toll, raising children later in life presents social, emotional, legal, and can also take a toll on the health of the grandparents.
This demonstration of love by family members must be accompanied by innovative policy solutions. Some of those solutions were included in the 21st Century Cures Act that was signed into law late last year. It includes $1 billion over two years for grants to states to supplement opioid abuse prevention and treatment activities, including prescription drug monitoring programs, prevention activities, training for health care providers, and improving access to opioid treatment programs. This money will benefit every state, including Maine.
Throughout history, grandparents have stepped in to provide safe and secure homes to their grandchildren, replacing traumatic pasts with loving and hopeful futures. The opioid crisis has called on grandparents in epic numbers. As a society, it is essential that we do all we can to help those grandparents who have stepped up to help ensure a better life for their children’s children.
