BANGOR – An organization that provides support to grandparents and other relatives raising children has received a federal grant to provide special services to those families affected by substance abuse or HIV.

Families and Children Together was awarded a four-year grant from the Administration for Children and Families.

The money – $100,000 the first year and $100,000 each of the following three years as long certain criteria are met – will allow F.A.C.T. to team up with the Maine Volunteers Lawyers Project, the Maine Bureau of Health and the University of Maine to start a new program called Family Connections to Resources.

The program will provide additional legal help, respite services and education to grandparents and relatives raising children who have been exposed to HIV or substance abuse. According to Barbara Yates, the agency’s program director, that accounts for many of the 250 families that F.A.C.T. already serves.

Formed five years ago, F.A.C.T. provides information, case management, peer groups, training, family activities and educational resources to families throughout Maine.