Family Rights Group warmly welcomes draft guidance

Family Rights Group on behalf of the Kinship Care Alliance today warmly welcomed the Government's draft statutory guidance for local authorities on family and friends care as an important recognition of the significance to children, who are unable to live with their parents, of being able to be brought up by extended family and the uniqueness of this form of care.  Important proposals set out in the draft guidance, include detailed requirements on local authorities in respect of assessment and support for such children and carers, including those outside the care system.  The Charity have formally submitted a response on behalf of the Kinship Care Alliance to the draft Guidance, including proposals for further improvements that could be made to the draft, such as greater clarification in relation to provisions relating to the range of legal arrangements.  The charity have emphasised that it is essential that the final guidance is issued by Ministers and that there's no watering down of provisions which will assist the lives of very vulnerable children.  

To read The Kinship Care Alliance response click here.

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Campaign for a national financial allowance and support

Currently many grandparents and other family and friends carers raising children on the brink of care, receive little or any support from the local authority.  Yet many of these carers are impoverished, living in overcrowded accommodation and are raising extremely distrubed children.  

Now Family Rights Group is leading the campaign, on behalf of the Kinship Care Alliance to end the current postcode lottery and improve financial and other support services available to family and friends carers.

To read the Kinship Care Alliance manfesto - click here 

Please write to your MP to encourage them to sign up to the manifesto

To read the Kinship Care Alliance's new recommendations paper click here.

To read a background paper on family and friends care click here

We welcome endorsements from organisations and individuals to both paper - please contact cashley@frg.org.uk

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Family and friends care assessment tool

Family Rights Group, in conjunction with BAAF and The Fostering Network, is piloting a new assessment approach designed for family and friends carers.  Click here for further information including if you are a local authorities interested in participating in the pilot.

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Survey of local authority policies on family and friends care

• More than two third (69%) of local authorities don’t have a coherent written approach to family and friends care
• The majority (52%) of local authorities who stated that family and friends care should be the first option for children ineed of alternative care had no policy on family and friends care.
• There was significant regional variation with 80% of authorities in Yorkshire and Humberside failing to have a policy for children being raised by family and friends carers outside the care system, compared to 39% of authorities in the South East.
• Just over half of local authorities (52%) have no guidance on the assessment of placements with relatives raising a child outside the care system
• 62% of those authorities didn’t have a written statement on support services, available to children being raised by family and friends carer outside the care system or failed to describe any eligibility criteria for such support.  These carers are therefore left to deal on their own to supervise often difficult contact arrangements, don’t have access to a link worker to address children’s emotional and behavioural difficulties, nor do they get training, advice or even the assistance of a local support group.

To download the freedom of information analysis report click here 

To download the family and friends care good practice guide for local authorities - click here for summary, click here for full report

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The family and friends carers project

The Family and Friends Carers project aims to provide information, advice and support for family members (and friends) raising young relatives and those working with these carers. It is a three year project (2008-11) funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

The project builds upon Family Rights Group's work to date with grandparents raising grandchildren who cannot live with their parents.

As part of the project:

• We run the popular family and friends carers discussion board.
• We provide a consultative service to family and friends carers and professionals who are working to develop local support groups. The project part funds ongoing telephone advice and in some circumstances visits to assist the setting up and sustainability of local support groups. If you are interested in starting up a support group or are a carer who wishes to get in touch with others in a similar situation, please ring 01733 751531.

• We are organising three regional family days for family and friends carers and their children. Please contact 01733 751531.

• We run an electronic discussion board for practitioners working with family and friends carers. 

Also as part of this project, we will:

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• Undertake research into managing contact in family and friends placements.
• Organise a national event for family and friends support group leaders in 2009.
• Provide advice sheets and other materials for litigants in person.
• undertake research into the needs of families where children are being raised by their older brothers or sisters – or ‘sibling
• carers’ as they are known.

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Are you a sibling carer? If so we would love to hear from you

Children being raised by siblings have particular, and often overlooked, needs. For example, sibling care arrangements often take place following the death of the children’s parents, which means that both child and carer sometimes have to negotiate with children’s social care services while they are grieving for the loss of their parents.  However, there is little hard information about this particular group of carers, and Family Rights Group would like to find out more about what the issues are affecting the lives of sibling carers.

Family Rights Group would like to hear from you if you would be willing to take part or know of sibling carers who are willing to be interviewed. Our aim is to discuss the results of the research at a sibling carers’ forum in about a year’s time.  We will then draw up a report drawing attention to what can be the advantages as well as the difficulties of sibling care arrangements. The report will make recommendations about how these living arrangements could be better supported and will be held at a launch event in 2010.  We will also be developing tailored advice materials for sibling carers including their own webpage and electronic discussion board. 

This work is being led by David Roth, FRG's policy adviser on family and friends care issues. If you would be interested in taking part in the project, please contact David by email (droth@frg.org.uk), phone (020 7923 2628) or by writing to him at Family Rights Group’s offices at The Print House, 18-20 Ashwin Street, London E8 3DL.