Kinship care and ensuring your child receives the support they need

Kinship is an organisation that helps connect kinship carers and support them in their homes and communities, as well as helping professionals understand kinship families and improve support for them.

Kinship published their report Forgotten in August 2024 and it makes for some sad reading. There are 3 times as many children placed with kinship carers, often grandparents or wider family members or friends, than there are in foster care. Yet this report evidences that many children growing up in kinship care are not getting the support they need in education. Despite many children in kinship care having special educational needs, many are missing out on a diagnosis or formalised support in school. The report also found that more than half of kinship children struggle with their mental health but that emotional or therapeutic support for these children is lacking. The report also found that kinship children need additional support to manage contact and navigate their family relationships and identity.

The care team at Biscoes can advise prospective kinship carers or special guardians on the different types of orders and the support that each will entail.

No kinship carer should be left wondering whether the child they love and care for would be better off in the care system because the support they need may be accessed more easily.

You can read the full report here:

Forgotten-report-v2.pdf (kinship.org.uk)