Grandparent's Rights Bill for NH

This letter is being sent to ALL Senators, State Representatives and Candidates in the State Of New Hampshire

Dear New Hampshire Senators, State Representatives and Candidates running for office,
The Grandparents of New Hampshire are interested in finding out what your position is regarding a subject of interest to every person in this state. The response we receive from every legislator from every part of the state, or the fact that there was no response, will be made public on my website and blog. That website is :
 http://unhappygrammy-grandparentsblog.blogspot.com/
If you would like to take a look at the web-site http://www.grasc.org/ you will find a brief synopsis of the law pertaining to grandparents from all 50 states on that site. Sadly, there is not much in any state’s law related to grandparents having custody of grandchildren when parents are not suitable, but several do make reference to what should happen in some specific situations. New Hampshire is NOT one of those states. Grandparents are not even mentioned in New Hampshire law as far as we have been able to see.
Every voter in New Hampshire either is, has, was, or will have grandparents. In thousands of families throughout the state, those grandparents are deeply involved, and in many cases, have had to totally take over, the raising of grandchildren. The number of grandparents in this situation is continually rising for many reasons. The fact that they are grandparents, gives them a little more age and experience than the younger parents, but it is the age that is of concern. Right now, in New Hampshire, there are very few children being raised in homes that are predominantly controlled by the grandparents, for the reason being New Hampshire DCYF and the Court's state grandparent's have no standing in petitioning for custody of their grandchildren.
According to the research we have done, here in New Hampshire, there are NO laws specifically protecting the rights of grandparents who are doing everything they can to keep the family together by taking on the responsibility of their grandchildren. In fact, the law specifically states that if the parental rights of parents are removed, the rights of the grandparents go right along with them, leaving the children, many of whom have been raised from infancy, with NO legal grandparents or any other relative who has any right to raise them. At that point, the state can simply take those children from sometimes the only home they have ever known, and put them in a broken and overloaded foster care system, and up for adoption. In many cases, those children end up spending their early lives under the thumb of DCYF until they are 18, then they are told to just go be an adult. This is a deplorable situation that must be changed.
With nothing on the books mentioning grandparents, family court judges have no choice but to ignore the fact that a child may have been raised in a loving home by their grandparents, simply because of the lack of a law allowing them to live with grandparents when parental rights are being removed. In the vast majority of cases, those grandparents would gladly give the children a loving home among family, rather than see them forced into foster care.
We are not in favor of usurping the authority of good parents, rather, give the children the right to stay with their own loving family in cases where the parents either can’t or won’t take the responsibility themselves. With all this in mind, we want to know how you stand.


1. Do you support legislation which would protect grandparents and their grandchildren from being separated when parental rights of the children’s parents are being terminated and allowing the grandparents the right to adopt said children?
2. Would you consider introducing such legislation?
3. Do you consider grandparents appropriate caregivers for children whose parents either can’t or won’t take responsibility for them?
4. Do you consider age and/or minor disability a disqualifying factor when considering grandparents as caregivers or adoptive parents?

We would appreciate your response to this survey as soon as convenient for you. As stated at the first, all responses, or lack thereof, will be posted along with the complete text of this letter on my website. We feel that the citizens of New Hampshire have the right to keep their families together as best they can under even difficult circumstances. It should be the mandate of the state to help in that goal, rather than finding excuses to rip those families apart just because the parents may be irresponsible. There are cases pending in family courts at this instant where DCYF is attempting to tear families apart just because the grandparents have helped their own children and have been blamed for the mistakes their children have made, along with any other made up excuse to prevent the grandparent custody of their grandchildren.” to properly take care of the children. Our grandchildren are being severely traumatized by being ripped away from the grandparent's they have grown up with. The grandparent's in many cases, who have basically raised them since birth. The grandparents these children have been led to believe have disowned them.
We need Law's in New Hampshire that protect the child/grandparent relationship. Federal government mandates are NOT being followed. New Hampshire DCYF need's Law's to abide by, not Rules, which are NOT followed.

Thank you for your time and response,
Dorothy Knightly-Supporter of Grandparent's Rights in N.H