Lack of kinship support ‘risks more children going into care’
Neil Puffett
Monday, October 5, 2020
The number of children being taken into care could rise further due to a lack of support for wider family or friends to look after them, a charity has warned.
Kinship care charity Grandparents Plus said its annual survey found that family and friends currently raising around 200,000 children because their parents cannot look after them are being left without the support and advice they need, with the situation compounded by the Covid-19 crisis.
The survey found that the vast majority of kinship carers (82 per cent) feel they lack the support and information they need from local authorities to raise children who have often suffered trauma or have additional needs.
In addition, the survey also revealed that 70 per cent of respondents found parenting as a kinship carer during the Covid-19 pandemic difficult or very difficult, with half saying their children had also struggled.
Meanwhile, existing issues have been exacerbated by the pandemic, with kinship carers particularly concerned about money (31 per cent), feeling alone (32 per cent), limited resources and space (23 per cent) and children’s behaviour (26 per cent). Around one in four (24 per cent) fear they will be “unable to cope” with a second lockdown.
Grandparents Plus said the lack of local authority support and information has meant that kinship carers are turning to family (64 per cent), friends (50 per cent) schools (33 per cent) and charities, such as Grandparents Plus (30 per cent), for help and advice.
Most recent Department for Education (DfE) statistics, published last December, show that 78,150 children were in care on 31 March 2019 - four per cent more than on the same date in 2018. In 2009 the figure stood at 60,900.
Grandparents Plus has warned that the lack of support for kinship carers could result in the number rising even further if they feel they are no longer able to cope.
Grandparents Plus chief executive Dr Lucy Peake said: “Kinship carers step in to care for children in times of crisis in order to keep them out of the care system. Yet the vast majority report they are doing it without enough support.
“We know that most kinship carers are grandparents, and many are vulnerable to Covid due to their age and health. Now, more than ever, we need to recognise and support them. If we don’t, there is a real risk that they won’t be able to cope and more children will enter the care system.
“Kinship carers are being badly let down and a step change in approach is needed. All kinship carers need access to support, and this must be backed by legislation and funding.”
Last week an inquiry by MPs found that more than 5,000 children could be living with relatives or friends instead of in unrelated care placements. The cross-parliamentary taskforce on kinship care, warned that kinship care is a “crucial but neglected part of the children’s social care system”.
In 2018 a major review into the care system conducted by a coalition of children's services directors, academics, charities and legal experts concluded that more children suffering abuse or neglect should be placed with their wider family in order to reduce numbers coming into the care.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Kinship carers support some of the most vulnerable children in society by opening their hearts and homes to them. We know that many are facing challenges at the moment, and local authorities are receiving an extra £3.2 billion in funding to deal with pressures arising due to coronavirus, including to help kinship carers.
“Kinship carers whose children left care through Special Guardianship Orders can also access therapeutic and peer support for problems arising from coronavirus, through the £6.5 million we have made available from the Adoption Support Fund.”
“For those families where children were previously in care, we have also made support available through the Pupil Premium Plus, as well as providing priority admissions to school.”
