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This is the first-ever National Kinship Care Strategy to be published in the UK. The strategy establishes “the foundations for a future, transformed kinship care system in England.”
The strategy includes the following commitments, amongst others:
- Launching a kinship financial allowance, paid at the same rate as the fostering allowance, beginning in up to 8 local authorities
- Expanding the Virtual School Head’s role
- Renaming the Adoption Support Fund to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund
- New government guidance for employers on…
The Scottish Parliament’s Social Justice and Social Security Committee has published its latest report on kinship carers, calling for improved support for carers.
Abstract
The literature on alternative care focuses overwhelmingly on formal, court-ordered placements; voluntary care placements are discussed less frequently. Least attention of all has been given to informal kinship care placements, where a child is cared for by relatives but is not formally in the legal care of state authorities. In Ireland, these placements, when facilitated by state authorities in lieu of a care order or voluntary care agreement, are known by professionals as ‘private family arrangements’. This article explores evidence which shows that the use of such arrangements…
This guide is the first of its kind which comprehensively addresses the best practice for placing Looked After Children currently in the UK into the care of a family member(s) who lives in another country. The overarching premise of this document is to ensure that all options are explored for a child in care and to provide local authorities with the tools and knowledge so that family members overseas are not unnecessarily ruled out as potential carers for children in care in the UK, particularly if this option may be in the best interests of the child.
This survey was constructed and undertaken by the charity Family Rights Group on behalf of the Cross-Party Parliamentary Taskforce on Kinship Care. The survey aimed to enable the Taskforce to have a better understanding of the experiences faced by kinship care households as a result of the Coronavirus crisis, and what urgent steps could be taken by Government, local authorities and other agencies to help.
Alongside learning from published research in the field and from previous surveys that Family Rights Group has conducted, the survey questions were also informed by: calls from kinship…
Abstract
Background
Many looked after young people in Wales are cared for by foster or kinship carers, usually as a consequence of maltreatment or developmentally traumatising experiences within a family context. Confidence in Care is a pragmatic unblinded individually randomised controlled parallel group trial evaluating a training programme to improve foster carer self-efficacy, when compared to usual care.
Objective
To determine whether group-based training improves foster carer self-efficacy.
Participants and setting
Participants are foster carers, currently looking…
In this online event, Family for Every Child members FSCE (Ethiopia), The Mulberry Bush (UK), Praajak (India) and CSID (Bangladesh) discussed children's care in the context of COVID-19. Discussion points included responding to vulnerable groups including children on the move and children with disabilities; domestic violence; kinship care and the digital divide. This webinar also included an overview of what is happening across the membership, and how Family is adapting to support members during this time.
Abstract
Kinship care is the preferred alternative for children who cannot remain with their birth family, maintaining birth family links and continuity in other parts of their life. However, kinship care has also been associated with risk factors including lack of support, difficult contact with biological parents, adverse childhood experiences for the child, carer stress and financial difficulties. Using routine data from a kinship care helpline service, this study employed a mixed‐method analysis of the association between socioeconomic deprivation and risk factors reported by kinship…
Abstract
Growing numbers of grandparent special guardians (GSGs) are assuming responsibility for increasing numbers of children in the care system in England. Special guardianship arrangements are increasingly used as a permanency option as they allow children to remain in their kinship networks rather than in local authority care or be adopted; yet there is a scarcity of research on GSG carers' experiences. This paper reports a small qualitative research study where 10 sets of grandparents were interviewed to explore their journey to becoming GSGs and to theorize their subsequent…
Abstract
For young people who have migrated unaccompanied by parents or other legal guardians, it is important to feel a sense of belonging. However, belonging is not fixed to one place. This study aims to explore how young migrants in kinship care in a Swedish suburb describe what different places mean to them and what these descriptions can tell us about their sense of belonging. In this study, semi‐structured interviews with 11 young migrants between 16 and 21 years of age who took part in a mentoring programme are analysed by thematic analysis. Our analysis reveals that (a) the young…