Kinship Policy
Kinship care is when a child lives full-time or most of the time with a relative or friend who is not their parent, usually because their parents are not able to care for them. That relative or friend is called a ‘kinship carer’ and it is estimated that around half of all kinship carers are grandparents, but many other relatives including older siblings, aunts, uncles, as well as family friends and neighbours can also be kinship carers.
There are lots of different types of kinship care, and if you are a kinship carer, you might find that as circumstances change the type of kinship carer you are changes too. Kinship care includes children who may be.
Living in an informal arrangement made by their parents
on a Child Arrangements Order or Special Guardianship Order
‘looked after’ by the local authority and placed with kinship foster carers.
Kinship carers are also often referred to as ‘family and friends carers’ or ‘connected people’ by local authorities and in official documents. The links above give greater detail as to what these arrangements mean in practice.
The benefits of Kinship are keeping a strong family association and having stability in the placement compared to local authority care.
The reason that a defined policy is needed for Kinship care is primarily that the support available to Kinship families from Local Authorities and statutory services vary enormously, creating a post code lottery. There is existing legislation that cover fostering and adopting families, although this does not currently extend to Kinship families.
My proposed policy pledges come from my own experiences and in consultation with the charity Kinship, of which I am a volunteer and a member of its steering group.
The proposed policy pledges are as follows:
A mandatory, non-means tested financial allowance for all kinship carers equivalent to the national minimum fostering allowance.
A right to paid employment leave for kinship carers on a par with adoption leave.
Improved educational support for children in kinship care, such as eligibility for support through Pupil Premium Plus, Virtual School and Designated Teacher and priority status within school admissions.
Emotional and therapeutic support for children in kinship care through a bespoke version of the Adoption Support Fund which recognises the unique needs and strengths of kinship families.
Access to tailored and independent advice, information, training and support for all kinship carers, including peer support.
Underpinning each of those pledges are three key principles:
That all kinship carers should get support regardless of legal order or location.
That any reforms come with clear guidance for local authorities on delivery and mechanisms for them to be held to account.
That Government provides local authorities with long term and sustainable funding to carry out their duties
Please see the Briefing for the Westminster debate of 14th September 2023 here:
https://kinship.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Support-for-kinship-carers-WH-debate-14-Sepbriefing.pdf
These policy proposals deserve the widest support.
Alliance for Democracy and Freedom supports family values