MORE CHILDREN MAKING GRANDMA'S HOUSE THEIR HOME.

Byline: Shani J. Bell Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

Those who don't know her may want to call her Superwoman. More and more, kids these days just call her Grandma. According to the U.S. Census in 1994, 3.7 million children are being raised by their grandparents or other relatives - up 40 percent since the mid-'80s. Of the 24 percent being raised by grandparents, more than half - 13 percent - were African-American.

Curious about the effect on African-American families in particular, researchers Antoinette Rodgers and Rosa Jones, both of the Florida International University School of Social Work, set out to study how and why grandparents and grandchildren came together.

``I was raised by a grandparent for part of my life,'' Rodgers says. ``Since Dr. Jones and I are both African-American, we were both curious as to the reasons why so many African-American grandparents end up being the primary care-givers of their grandchildren.''

Rodgers and Jones conducted interviews with 19 African-American grandmothers, ranging in age from 47 to 74. Forty-two percent, they learned in their admittedly limited study, were in their situation because of drug abuse by the child's mother. Death of the parents or immaturity of the father and mother were the second- and third-most-common reasons a child was turned over to grandparents.

Jannie Brown raised six children on her own. She now has 26 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Her house resembles a busy day-care center during weekend visits. When they all go home, 5-year-old Jeffrey stays behind. ``Usually it's the daughters who bring home babies, but my son, J.B., brought Jeffrey home. His mother gave him to J.B., and we've had him ever since.''

Off and on, Brown also takes care of her 14-year-old grandson, Mark Wilson. ``I would rather keep him here than send him to a children's home,'' Brown said. ``His mother is trying to get her life together. ... Mark does OK here as long as he can stay involved in sports.''

Brown, a diabetic, says she enjoys having the children around, and that Jeffrey was a welcome addition to the family.

Gracie Burr thought she could exhale. Her husband, Willie Jr., 61, had retired from Chrysler; their three children had pretty much grown up. Their daughter, Adrian, was 17 when she had Rayvon, now 6. ``We took over,'' Burr says. ``It was the fact that she was still in school and she didn't have anyone else to turn to. She's my daughter; we weren't just going to put her out.''

Burr says Adrian and Rayvon were more like brother and sister during the first few years. ``She had her own life, she went to school and went out. Adrian had school. She had to do her work and be in bed, so we took care of him.''

Rayvon, who just started second grade, considers the Burrs' house his home. ``We tried to get financial help from Rayvon's father, but he wasn't reliable, so we decided to do it ourselves. Adrian contributes, too,'' Burr says. ``We told Rayvon not to worry about his father; he's got a grandfather.''

Researchers Jones and Rodgers note that grandparents as primary care-givers is a phenomenon that spreads across racial lines and throughout the United States, and they plan to study the effect on white families and other minority groups in the future.

``We don't want to make generalizations; our numbers were very small,'' Rodgers says. ``If anything, we have brought attention to the issue so that social workers and other service organizations can be more sensitive to the needs of grandparents in this situation.