![Anne Polston holds her 2-year-old granddaughter.](https://will.illinois.edu/images/uploads/53394/img_2024__medium.jpg)
Grandparents Are Raising Their Grandkids. Blame Opioids.
About 100,000 Kentucky children are being raised by people other than their parents – a number that puts Kentucky above all other states. Many of these cases are because of issues stemming the opioid epidemic: incarceration, abuse or neglect; and a great number of grandparents are raising these children. This can put a grandparent in a difficult situation in a state where many people live in poverty and have big health issues.