Maggie Hughes examines at the growing difficulties facing grandparents who have taken on the care of their grandchildren for various reasons - often because their children are unable to continue caring for their own kids for either health, social, or economic reasons.

Many of these grandparents live on a fixed income, and have difficulties making ends meet when they take on the care of their grandchildren, who of kids suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome or worse and are not likely to be adopted or see a decent foster home.

Until recently they could count on funding from the Ontario Temporary Care funding program. When Grandmothers in the Hamilton group ROCK (Raising Our Children's Kids) asked about irregularities in the funding, though, instead of investigating the problem, the Ontario government cut off the funding completely.

As Hughes writes to us, "Caught between conflicting policies and without help in any form for fetal alcohol children, these Grandparents don't know where to turn next."