What is kinship care?
Thousands of family and friends step in every year to raise children who are unable to live with their parents. Such situations often arise out of tragedy or trauma. Often the children would otherwise live with strangers in the care system.
Kinship care can take different forms including kinship foster care, special guardianship, child arrangements orders, private fostering or private family arrangements.
Kinship care is often overlooked and undervalued
Currently, there is no single definition of kinship care in primary legislation. As a result, kinship carers can face many challenges including not being recognised in their parenting role by hospital services, schools, or employers.
It also means kinship care is interpreted in different ways by government, state agencies, services, and the public including kinship carers themselves. Families then face a postcode lottery in the support available to them locally. For many, there is little or no support for the child or themselves, particularly those with informal arrangements.
We know this is preventing children from receiving the support they need to live safely and thrive in their families