Ethel Ka'aha'aina is in the midst of raising her second family. This time around, at age 70 and having raised her own four children, she's trying to find a balance in social life while juggling after-school pickups for her two teenage grandchildren.

Her situation is becoming less and less unusual in Hawai'i. Over the past four years, the number of grandparents raising grandchildren in their homes has grown by nearly 50 percent, according to census figures.

Ka'aha'aina is always on the lookout for tips on how to mesh the needs of her grandchildren and herself.

She hopes to find some answers today at AARP Hawai'i's and Hawai'i Family Services' conference for grandparents, Ka Lei Mehana O Na Kupuna, at the Makaha Resort. Many grandparents face health issues and are on a fixed income. That's why its vital for organizations like the AARP to provide a forum to link the struggling grandparents to emotional and financial support, said Barbara Kim Stanton, AARP state director.

Kumu hula John Ka'imikaua, who formed Halau Hula O Kukunaokala 28 years ago and founded Moloka'i Ka Hula Piko, a cultural and educational event that educates people of the undocumented, pre-Western history of Moloka'i, will be the keynote speaker.

The conference is co-sponsored by the AARP and the Hawai'i Family Services with the assistance of Alu Like Inc., the city Elderly Affairs Division, the Hawai'i Intergenerational Network, the Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Last year there were about 50,000 households in Hawai'i with grandparents living with grandchildren under 18 years old, according to the American Community Survey of population estimates. That is at least a 49 percent increase over 2000, the last year the U.S. Census surveyed Hawai'i. Nearly 13 percent of Hawai'i households with children under age 18 are headed by grandparents.

"Our numbers put us No. 1 state in the country with the number of grandparent-headed households raising children," Stanton said. Mississippi and Louisiana round out the top three states with a high percentage of grandparents heading households with children under 18.

"In Hawai'i we have more extended families and are in a culture where children are hanai'd," she said.

"Our culture embraces everyone raising the children."

Ka'aha'aina takes her grandparenting in stride. Mostly, though, she's learned a thing or two about parenting the second time around.

"I'm more knowledgeable now than when I raised my children," she said. "When you're raising children, you learn as you go."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.