Campaigners have listed areas where the government’s forthcoming National Kinship Care strategy needs to improve the lives of kinship care families, where family and friends look after children who can’t stay at home.
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It is estimated that 180,000 children, who would otherwise by in foster or residential homes, are being raised by kinship carers, according to Family Rights Group (FRG), which has made the recommendations to ministers.
Being called for is better access to educational support for children and young people in kinship care up to the age of 25.
FRG says this is needed as more than half of kinship care children have additional educational needs or disabilities.
This educational support should include helping children pursue further and higher education and training opportunities. Pupil premium plus, priority school admissions and access to virtual school heads also need to be expanded to include children in kinship care.
Too often access to such support is dependent on whether a child in kinship care has been formally looked after in the care system, warns FRG.
The government’s strategy also needs to improve access to therapeutic and mental health support for children in kinship care, who have often experienced loss, tragedy or trauma. This support also needs to be extended to carers who may also be facing trauma of their own, such as a grandparent grieving the loss of their son or daughter who was the child’s parent.
“Some carers said they found that admitting this and asking for support was judged negatively by child welfare services,” said FRG which wants funding for such support through the Adoption Support Fund to be extended to include kinship carers.
🚨 Our Six Tests challenge the Government to deliver ambitious reform for kinship families who have been overlooked and undervalued for too long.
— Family Rights Group (@FamilyRightsGp) September 12, 2023
Keep an eye out for a deep dive on why each test matters for kinship carers. 👀
Read a summary of our tests , and RT if you agree 👇 pic.twitter.com/xvnFszKrSc
Also being called for is an inclusive definition of kinship care written into law, carers to receive paid employment leave and prospective carers to have access to independent specialist advice “to make informed decisions”.
In addition, financial support for kinship care families needs to be fair nationwide. Currently council support is “highly variable” and three in four carers say they are facing financial hardship due to their caring responsibilities, warn campaigners.
“Kinship care is very often the best option for children who cannot stay at home, and yet has been consistently overlooked and undervalued by successive governments despite the worsening crisis in children’s social care,” said FRG chief executive Cathy Ashley.
“The first national kinship care strategy is an opportunity to address this injustice and deliver for tens of thousands of children and their carers.”
