The Responsibility of the Gerontoogical Social Worker When Policy Contrains Personal Growth

Abstract

This article discusses a community-based Foster Grandparent Program in which elderly volunteers are placed in a variety of child care settings. Divergence between the federal Foster Grandparent Program guidelines and the unique goals of each volunteer station causes Foster Grandparents to experience role ambiguity. The literature and actual experiences are used to emphasize the need for congruence between what the volunteer doing.and what activities the guidelines say the individual is performing. It becomes the responsibility of the gerontological social worker to identify this discrepancy and to work toward change in order to develop realistic guidelines that maxmize volunteer potential.