Brunch celebrates caregivers who stepped in to raise relatives’ children

For 11-year-old Halleijah Franklin, it was an honor to serve a pre- Mother’s Day brunch to Joyce Griffis.

“She’s so caring, so loving. If she wouldn’t have taken care of me, I probably would be in the system,” Franklin said of her maternal grandmother. “She buys me clothes and takes me places and loves me just like she’s my mom.”

Griffis was one of dozens of grandparents, aunts, uncles and other family members who were thanked Saturday for stepping in to care for children when their parents could not. The event, held in South Los Angeles, was sponsored by the Community Coalition.

The 61-year-old Griffis has cared for her granddaughter for the better part of a decade, while her own daughter has struggled with mental illness and homelessness. Two years ago, when her daughter gave birth again, Griffis took the baby girl, Khaileyse, as her own.

“In the last two years, my father has passed, then my husband, and then my mom,” Griffis said. “All of that has strengthened me for caring for these children.” In September, Griffis adopted the two girls.

The Community Coalition, which arose shortly before the 1992 L.A. riots, first took root in response to the social scourge of crack cocaine and has fought against the proliferation of liquor stores in South L.A.

But the group has also advocated for a greater appreciation for relative caregivers, who it says have never gotten the official support that foster parents have, despite better results.

“These grandmas, aunts, uncles are the backbone for building strong and healthy communities,” said Marqueece Harris-Dawson, president and chief executive of the Community Coalition. “Unfortunately, their contributions are often overshadowed by negative attention elsewhere in the child welfare system.”

More than half of the children taken from their parents by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services are placed with relatives, according to the group. South L.A. makes up about 10% of the county’s population but accounts for a quarter of all children placed under the care of relatives.

It’s not easy, say family caregivers, even if it’s emotionally rewarding.

Deann D’Antignac had a career as a physician’s assistant, with two sons about to graduate from high school, but did not hesitate when DCFS asked her to care for a newborn girl delivered by a niece 15 years ago.

A year and a half later, she got another call and took in another infant girl from the same niece, and a year later, another call, and another baby girl.

The same qualities that allowed her to provide a stable home for her own three children, even in a tough South L.A. neighborhood, made her the person sought out to care for these children.

“Instead of being a woman looking at an empty nest because my kids went to college, I was looking at a full house,” she said.

D’Antignac said she gave up her career and her health insurance to care for the girls. She thought it would be a temporary situation, but more than a decade later, they’ve become every bit her children.

Griffis said that after years of caring for her ailing parents and doing part-time work, she had wanted to go back to school. But she couldn’t say no to caring for her granddaughters.

“It’s hard to keep food on the table, especially at the end of the month when things are running low,” Griffis said. “I’m budgeting my income and keeping up with the sales, discounts.”

“But I’m a family-oriented person,” she added, as her 2-year-old granddaughter rested in a stroller. “I said, ‘This must be my will, to take care of these kids.’ ”

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