DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL POLICY AND SOCIAL WORK
Kinship care
Joan Hunt
Senior Research Fellow
Oxford Centre for Family Law and Policy
A multiplicity of arrangements

Fostered by kin approved as foster carers

Special guardianship or adoption

Residence order

Privately fostered

Informal
Numbers

6900 in approved foster placements in 2008 (16% all foster
placements; 12% all looked after children)
+

11646 ‘children in need’ in 2005
+

? 18000- 28000 others

Total guesstimate 200,000-300, 000 (1.7% to 2.5% child
population) (Richards and Tapsfield, 2003)
Kinship carers are typically
grandparents

62% children placed with kin through care proceedings (Hunt et
al, 2008)

45% children looked after (Farmer and Moyers, 2008)

42% children in need (Broad, 2001)

Guesstimate: 100,000 grandparents caring for children under
13 (Richards and Tapsfield, 2003)
The reasons for care
Survey of grandparent carers (Richards 2001)

24% parental inability to care, including abuse, neglect and
domestic violence

23% parental desertion, a substantial proportion resulting from
drug/alcohol abuse

16% family breakdown

13% parental illness, often mental illness ;

10% parental death, often also involving substance abuse,
mental illness or violence
Children’s prior experiences similar to those in
unrelated foster care
Prior adversities
Kin %
Unrelated %
Multiple separations from main carer
59
64
Physical abuse
35
38
Neglect
68
61
Sexual abuse (actual or suspected)
24
27
Exposed to domestic violence
52
52
Parental drug or alcohol abuse
60
51
(Farmer & Moyers, 2008)
Potential benefits for children

Continuity of experience & relationships

Security and belonging

Fewer placement moves

Less stigmatising?
Many children do well in kinship care

Hunt et al, 2008

47% no problems at all
 81% problems in only one or two areas of functioning

Farmer and Moyers, 2008

Children doing as well as those in unrelated care
 52% both groups behavioural/emotional difficulties
 78% improvement since placement (77% unrelated)
 68% positive view of themselves (63%)
Carers need support

Challenging children

Challenging circumstances

High levels of stress

May need as much, or more help than unrelated carers

Usually get less
What carers need

Readily accessible information and advice

Financial support

Practical help

Professional help with and for children

Peer support
Conclusion

Through kinship care the extended family makes a vital
contribution to the welfare of children who cannot remain with
their birth parents

This contribution is ‘officially’ recognised and ‘promoted’

Policies and systems to support this unique form of care have
been slow to develop.

Government have promised a ‘new framework for family and
friends care’
How to support kinship carers more effectively:
recommendations from the Kinship Care Alliance

The uniqueness of kinship care needs to be recognised

Cross-departmental working group to develop policy
 Guidance to LA’s on promoting and supporting kinship care
 Collection of statistics on children being raised by relatives

Systems need to be developed to meet both the short and
long-term needs of carers.

Right to assessment of need
 LA statutory duty to establish/commission support services
 Government funding to resource this

Financial support