Grandparents group asks state to update parental rights laws

ORRINGTON – It’s not only parents who are raising children today, and it’s time state laws reflect the shift, a group of grandparents rearing their grandchildren claims.

The grandparents have gotten support from a local legislator who has submitted proposed legislation to update state law.

The group of six grandparents describes Maine’s parental laws as antiquated and in desperate need of updating to acknowledge the fact that there are grandparents raising their children’s children.

“We just decided that we need to do something to give grandparents rights, like parents have,” Orrington Selectman Christine Lavoie said last month.

She, along with her husband, Herb Lavoie, are raising two of their grandchildren. “We have guardianship, but we have no support otherwise and usually no support from the family member whose children we are taking care of,” Christine Lavoie said.

The group of six first met at a meeting of Families and Children Together, a Bangor support group for grandparents raising their grandchildren, and decided to initiate state legislation that would give them rights.

They asked state Rep. Richard Rosen of Bucksport for help. Three weeks ago, Rosen submitted a bill titled “An Act to Provide Guidelines, Standards and Rights for Children and the Guardians who care for them,” to the Legislature.

“We all know major changes have taken place and the definition of family has changed,” Rosen, who this week won a state Senate seat, said recently. “What [grandparents are] stressed with is a legal and custody system that hasn’t caught up. We can all think of people who are dealing with this issue.”

During the next legislative session, state lawmakers will review and, it is hoped, adopt the bill, Rosen said. He said the Legislature should address the bill in December.

The bill would provide guidelines for probate court judges to use when deciding rights of grandparents who have had guardianship of their grandchildren for more than two years.

“Right now [judges] don’t have any guidelines,” said David McCullough of Glenburn, who has guardianship of his granddaughter. “One person gets custody this way, and anther person gets it another way.”

The group can relay stories of grandparents who have moved to different counties in Maine just so they could get a different and more sympathetic judge. Statewide there are reportedly 1,500 grandparents who have guardianship of their grandchildren, according to FACT information.

“We don’t want to handicap probate judges – we want to expand their capability to work in other areas,” Bob Dawes of Milford said. He and his wife, Lucy, became legal guardians of their 7-year-old granddaughter nearly seven years ago.

The bill, which is based on similar state legislation in Minnesota and Kentucky, uses parental participation as a tool for gauging rights of the parties involved.

Fear of losing their grandchildren is a big factor in the legislation, said Christine Lavoie, who for three years has had guardianship of a granddaughter and grandson.

“We could have the kids for 12 years, and [their parents] could still try and get them back,” she said.

“Don’t rock the boat” is the way many grandparents feel when dealing with rights, because they don’t want to lose what they have, Bob Dawes said.

“The kids can come back whenever they feel like and take the [grand] kids,” he said. “We love what we’re doing and we wouldn’t change anything, but it’s something that you wouldn’t wish on anybody.

“This [bill] is to try and level the playing field,” Dawes said.

Part of the proposal would ensure grandchildren could be listed as dependants for things such as insurance. The legislation also calls for potential financial support from parents.

“My granddaughter can’t go on my insurance or my wife’s insurance,” said David McCullough who, along with his wife, Becky, was given legal custody of their granddaughter four years ago.

Lavoie pointed out that other entities, such as schools, have begun to recognize the role of grandparents in raising grandchildren.

“All the forms have changed and say parent-guardian,” she said. “Times have changed, and we need to change the legislative piece to keep up.”

The FACT support group meets twice a month in Bangor and is a place participants can get support and resources, vent frustration and just see that they are not alone, Dawes said.

“When you start this journey, you think you’re the only one who has this problem,” he said. “FACT is a support group, but it’s also an opportunity for kinship.”

To find out more about FACT, call administrator Barbara Kates at 941-2347.