Celebrates the 29th Annual Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Conference and recognizes its founders, Dot Thibodeaux and Danna Spayde, for their dedication, support, and inspiration to grandfamilies across Louisiana.
SCR 17 is a ceremonial concurrent resolution that celebrates the 29th Annual Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Conference in Louisiana and recognizes the founders of the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (GRG) organization, Dot Thibodeaux and Danna Spayde. The resolution recounts the origins of GRG, its monthly support meetings, and its annual statewide conference, which provides workshops, respite, and community-building for grandparents who are raising grandchildren.
The resolution emphasizes the scale and importance of grandfamilies in Louisiana, noting that tens of thousands of grandparents are raising children, often with limited financial resources and in difficult circumstances. It highlights the services GRG provides, including emergency assistance, legal consultation, educational workshops, and basic necessities such as food, diapers, clothing, and help with housing and utilities. It also points to the broader policy significance of kinship care, describing it as a stabilizing alternative that can help children avoid foster care and remain connected to their communities, schools, and siblings.
SCR 17 does not change state law, create new programs, or appropriate funds. Its legal effect is limited to expressing legislative recognition and appreciation for GRG, its conference, and its founders, and to transmitting the resolution to the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Information Center of Louisiana. The resolution may help elevate awareness of kinship care and grandparent caregiving issues, but it has no direct statutory impact on affected agencies, families, or benefit programs.
The sentiment around the resolution is strongly supportive and celebratory. The Senate adopted SCR 17 unanimously, 35-0, indicating broad bipartisan agreement with honoring the conference and the work of GRG. The bill text itself uses highly affirmative language about the resilience of grandparent caregivers, the value of kinship care, and the legacy of the organization’s founders.
There is little to no apparent contention in the available record. No committee debate or opposing testimony is provided, and the unanimous vote suggests the measure was noncontroversial. The resolution does, however, implicitly underscore unmet needs among grandfamilies—such as poverty, lack of resources, and limited support—which may point to broader policy challenges, but those issues are presented as reasons for recognition rather than as points of dispute over the resolution itself.