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George Bennett and his wife, Carole, are raising their children's children, which puts them in league with 5,000 other grandparents in Tucson, and about 52,000 statewide.

Those numbers, from the U.S. Census Bureau, point to the growing role of grandparents raising grandchildren — and the growing need for support for retirees in that role.

The Bennetts adopted their granddaughter Jasmine, now 11, when she was 6 weeks old, to get her away from drug-abusing parents. They also are caring for their 14-year-old grandson, who has trouble relating to his stepfather, and whose own father is in prison.

"It keeps me young," said Bennett, a military retiree who was away a lot when his own kids were growing up. "My wife works, so now I have a chance to be a full-time dad."

If Bennett makes it sound easy, it's not. That's why he started the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Southern Arizona Coalition. He later helped start the Kare Family Center, a project of the Pima Council on Aging, Arizona's Children Association and other agencies. It recently marked five years of service to more than 6,000 families.

Grandparents who are raising their grandchildren are 60 percent more likely than other grandparents to be living in poverty, the Census Bureau found. Most often, grandparents are rescuing their grandchildren from abuse or neglect, often drug-related, studies show.

Last year the state Legislature appropriated $1 million to provide $75 a month stipends to help with the expenses of "encore parenting." Lawmakers are expected to continue the funding this year, but not increase it, as advocates hoped.

"One of the things they are looking for is information about how to access resources," said Kristen Herman, program coordinator for the extension service. "This conference is designed to help them connect with community agencies that can help them."

Arizona's Children Association, Pima Council on Aging, Casey Family Programs and the Arizona Department of Economic Security's Child Protective Services are conference co-sponsors.