When your child has a child: Adopting your grandchild
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, more than 224,000 children in Georgia live in the homes of their grandparents, and more than 116,000 of those children live in homes where their grandparents are solely responsible for them. More than 40 percent of those kids have neither of their parents living with them.
More than 102,000 grandparents are responsible for their grandchildren living in their households. More than 4,100 grandparents in Atlanta and 2,100 in Columbus are completely responsible for the grandchildren who live with them.
Kids need a stable and nurturing home life
Georgia courts realize that kids need stable and loving homes to grow up in. It is very common that grandparents fill in the gap for parents that are unable to provide a stable and fit home for their grandchildren. There are many reasons and circumstances that lead to a grandparent raising their grandchild, to include, death, abandonment, incarceration or incapacity. Additionally, there are circumstances where a child has been removed from a home by DCFS as a result of abuse or neglect, and are placed in the grandparents' home.
Significantly, Georgia law allows grandparents to adopt grandchildren. If you are a grandparent raising your grandchild, adoption will allow you to legally provide stability, security and support for your grandchild. Your grandchild may even qualify for adoption assistance benefits to help with the legal costs and expenses associated with adoption.
If you're a grandparent who has seen enough, and you're seriously thinking about adopting your grandchild, contact Atlanta adoption attorney Christina Campbell at The Campbell Law Practice LLC, and arrange for a consultation about the rights of grandparents and the circumstances surrounding your grandchild. She's knowledgeable, experienced and compassionate, and her practice is concentrated on the law of adoption. She does everything that she can do to prove to a judge that her clients can provide that stable and nurturing home that the grandchild needs so much. One of the greatest gifts that you can give a child is a family!