Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, 2018, 13(1): 39-54

This article reports on one aspect of a large multi-method survey of grandparents raising grandchildren, carried out in 2016. The research report [Gordon L. (2016). The empty nest is refilled: the joys and tribulations of grandparents raising grandchildren in New Zealand. Auckland: Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Trust (NZ)] notes that the most commonly cited reason for children coming into care was parental drug addiction. This article reports on the circumstances and well-being of families where parental drug addiction was cited as a reason for the children living with grandparents. Common causes of grandparents struggling to care for their grandchildren were personal health issues, housing, financial problems and dealing with traumatised or unwell children. Contact with parents was often random, with non-contact caused by parental death, imprisonment, parents moving away or re-forming families, children not wanting to see the parent or parents not turning up for scheduled visits. As noted in another article [Gordon L. (2017). Experiences of grandparents raising grandchildren in getting income support from Work and Income offices in New Zealand. Kotuitui. 12(2):134–145], many of the families had difficulty getting income support from Work and Income. Many of the children suffer from a range of emotional and behavioural problems, leading to concerns about their future. The conclusion considers the policy and service implications of these findings, in the context of the growing ‘epidemic’ of methamphetamines and other drug use in Aotearoa. (Author's abstract). Record #6069