Support network for kinship carers boosts ability to cope

Project

Relative Experience

Funding

£196,500 from the Big Lottery Fund's Silver Dreams fund from September 2012 until February 2014

Background

Kinship carers - grandparents or other relatives who have taken on the care of a child - are a group that charity Grandparents Plus describes as overlooked and unsupported. Ninety-five per cent of children in kinship care arrangements do not have official "looked-after" status, despite experiencing similar issues to their peers in the care system such as parents' drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and family breakdown. This means carers are not entitled to the support, training and financial allowances available for foster carers and are often isolated, having given up their jobs and lost friendship networks after taking on the role. "They have to fight their corner very hard to get any kind of help, and support is incredibly uneven," says charity chief executive Sam Smethers.