Paper Dolls on Display at Colony Square Mall to Celebrate Grandparents/Kinship Month

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Muskingum County Children Services is acknowledging September as Grandparent/ Kinship month. 

More than 200,000 children in Ohio are under kinship care. Muskingum County Children Services is celebrating the month by displaying over 900 paper dolls, that have been colored and decorated, at the Colony Square Mall. The dolls represent those children in Muskingum County who are being raised by a grandparent or other”kin” that are not their biological parent.

“We should have over a thousand dolls representing somewhere around 1200 children that are being raised by a grandparent or other relative in Muskingum County. So there will be enough paper dolls on the wall to fill up an entire school,” said Kinship Supervisor, Patrick Donovan.

Donovan said it’s important to acknowledge this issue because those who take in the children take on the responsibilities of having to raise children who are not their own. Those responsibilities include education and basic needs.

“So if you look across the United States, you’ll find that for every child that has to be placed into foster care, there are actually 19 children that are being raised in kinship homes. So that gives you a perspective. There’s been a lot of attention nationwide, also at the state level. Just kind of recognizing that this is an epidemic. And there’s just a huge number of children who are having to be raised by grandparents and other relatives,” said Donovan.

For information on the Kinship program that the Muskingum County Children Services has to offer, you can Donovan directly at (740) 452-6339.