Kinship Care

Where a child cannot be cared for within their immediate family, the family may make their own arrangements to care for the child within the family and friends network.

The local authority does not have a duty to assess any such informal family and friends care arrangements, unless it appears to the authority that services may be necessary to safeguard or promote the welfare of a Child in Need. In such cases, the local authority has a responsibility under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 to assess the child's needs and provide services to meet any assessed needs of the child. Following an assessment, a Child in Need Plan will be drawn up and a package of support will be identified. This can comprise of a variety of different types of services and support, including financial support.

Parental responsibility remains with the birth parents, but the carer may do what is reasonable to safeguard or promote the child's welfare.

For further information please go to: OMG Working with Children in Need.

A privately fostered child is a child under 16 (or 18 if disabled) who is cared for by an adult who is not a parent or close relative, where the child is to be cared for in that home for 28 days or more. Close relative is defined as 'a grandparent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt (whether of the full blood or half blood or by marriage or civil partnership) or step-parent.' It does not include a child who is Looked After by a local authority. In a private fostering arrangement, the parent still holds parental responsibility and agrees the decision-making arrangements with the private foster carer.

The local authority has a duty to assess and monitor the welfare of all privately fostered children and the way in which they carry out these duties is set out in the Children (Private Arrangements for Fostering) Regulations 2005. However, the local authority may also become involved with a child in a private fostering arrangement where the child comes within the definition of a Child in Need. In such cases, the local authority has a responsibility to provide services to meet the assessed needs of the child under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989. Following assessment, a Child in Need Plan will be drawn up and a package of support will be identified. As in 4.1 above, this can comprise a variety of different types of services and support, including financial support.

See also: Private Fostering

Where a child is looked after by the local authority, we have a responsibility wherever possible to make arrangements for the child to live with a member of the family who is approved as a foster carer (Section 22 of the Children Act 1989). The child can be placed with the family members prior to such approval, subject to an assessment of the placement, for up to 16 weeks under Regulation 24 of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010. Regulation 24(1) provides that where the local authority is satisfied that an immediate placement with a Connected Persons is the most appropriate placement for the child, the carers can have temporary approval for a period of up to 16 weeks provided that an assessment of their suitability under Regulation 24(2) has taken place. Regulation 25 of the 2010 Care Planning Regulations gives an extension of 8 weeks to the original 16 weeks.

In this context the carer is referred to as a Connected Person and the process of obtaining approval for the placement is set out in the Placement with Connected Persons Procedure. Where temporary approval is given to such a placement under the procedure, the carers will receive financial support on a regular basis. This may cover placements at very short notice.

In addition the child will have a placement plan which sets out the specific arrangements surrounding the child and the carers including the expectations of the foster carers and the support they can expect to receive to enable to fulfil their responsibilities for the child.

The assessment and approval process for family and friends who apply to be foster carers for a specific Looked After child will be similar to any other foster carer and include checks and references, however the assessment is focussed on meeting the needs of the specific child/children rather than generic issues. The assessment form is different from the mainstream fostering assessment and those carrying out the assessment should verify with the fostering manager the correct form. The timescales for the assessment are different where a child is already in the placement as indicated above at the top of this section. An information pack will be available to potential foster carers about the process and they will be given the name and contact details of the social worker from the Fostering Service allocated to carry out the assessment.

Once approved as foster carers, they will be allocated a supervising social worker from the fostering service to provide them with support and supervision; and they will receive fostering allowances for as long as they care for the child as a foster carer.

While the child remains a looked after child, as a foster carer, they will be expected to cooperate with all the processes that are in place to ensure that the child receives appropriate care and support, for example, contributing to reviews of the child's Care Plan, cooperating with the child's social worker and promoting the child's education and health needs.

Authority for day-to-day decision making about the child should be delegated to the carer(s), unless there is a valid reason not to do so.

A Child Arrangements Order is a Court Order which sets out the arrangements as to when and with whom a child is to live, spend time or otherwise have contact.

These orders replace the previous Contact Orders and Residence Orders.

A Child Arrangements Order may give parental responsibility to the person in whose favour it is made. Parental responsibility is shared with the parents.

Authority for day-to-day decision making about the child should be delegated to the carer(s), unless there is a valid reason not to do so.

Child Arrangements Orders may be made in private family proceedings in which the local authority is not a party nor involved in any way in the arrangements. However, a Child Arrangements Order in favour of a relative or foster carer (who was a 'Connected Person') with whom a child is placed may be an appropriate outcome as part of a permanence plan for a Child in Need or a 'Looked After' child.

The local authority may pay Child Arrangements Order Allowances to relatives or friends, unless they are a spouse or civil partner of a parent, with whom a child is living under a Child Arrangements Order. This is set out in paragraph 15 of Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989,  however this is discretionary.

Special Guardianship offers a further option for children needing permanent care outside their birth family. It can offer greater security without absolute severance from the birth family as in adoption. The following individuals can apply to be a child’s special guardian if they are not their parent and are over 18:

• They are already the child’s legal guardian;
• The child lives with the carer because of a child arrangements order;
• The child has lived with the carer for 3 of the past 5 years;
• The carer is the child’s relative or a foster parent, and the child has been living with them for at least 1 year;
• The carer has the agreement of anyone named in a child arrangements order as someone who the child will live with;
• The carer has agreement of all the people with parental responsibility for the child;
• The carer has the agreement of the local council, if the child is in care;
• If the carer does not fit one of these descriptions, they will need to ask the court’s permission to apply.

A joint application can also be made. For further information and for forms please see: Becoming a Special Guardian.

Adoption is the process by which all parental rights and responsibilities for a child are permanently transferred to an adoptive parent by a court. As a result the child legally becomes part of the adoptive family.

An Adoption Order in favour of a relative or foster carer (who was a 'Connected Person') with whom a child is living may be an appropriate outcome as part of a permanence plan for a Child in Need or a 'Looked After' child.

Local authorities must make arrangements, as part of their adoption service, for the provision of a range of adoption support services. They then have to undertake assessments of the need for adoption support services at the request of the adopted child, adoptive parents and their families, as well as birth relatives. The support required is then set out in an Adoption Support Plan and this may include financial support.

Kinship Arrangements

The UK government has put into place three different visa routes for Ukrainians who wish to come or remain in the UK since the war in the Ukraine started. These are:

• Ukraine Family Scheme;
• Homes for Ukraine;
• Ukraine Extension Scheme.

Private Fostering

If a child or young person is living with a Homes for Ukraine sponsor, is under 16 and the sponsor is not a close relative, this is a statutory private fostering arrangement. All private fostering responsibilities and procedures must be followed in these cases. See Section 4.2, Private fostering arrangements.

Please Note: These resources are being continually updated and so it is important that you seek the most up to date guidance when considering a kinship placement for a Ukrainian child or young person. Further advice can be found on Family Rights Group website and The Ukraine Advice Project UK.

The local authority should guide kinship carers to peer support groups and relevant training. Local authorities should collaborate with partner agencies and the voluntary sector to establish and improve access to this type of support.

Training can boost the confidence of kinship carers and equip them with skills and knowledge to provide high-quality care. For example, the training can include:

• Information about different types of kinship care;
• Knowledge about child development and how to manage challenging behaviours; or
• Practical information on how to navigate the children’s social care system, register for a new school or how to access a GP.

There are three categories of payment, which may be considered. One or more of these may be applicable, depending on the particular circumstances of the case:

1. Subsistence crisis (one-off) payments
   
   These should be used to overcome a crisis, following the best assessment that can be achieved in the circumstances;
   
   
2. Setting-up
   
   These are for such items as clothing, furniture, or bedding. The social worker must be satisfied that the carers' financial position justifies the payment through a financial assessment. Assistance may be given subject to conditions, including repayment in certain situations. However, in most situations, it will be inappropriate for the Department to seek to recover money provided under these circumstances;
   
   
3. Weekly living contribution
   
   It is possible for the local authority to make regular payments where family members or friends care for a child whether or not the child is not Looked After. Where regular payments are to be made, relative carers should be assisted to maximise their Income/Benefit as regular payments may adversely affect an individual's claim to income support.
   
   In all cases where regular financial support is agreed, a written agreement will be drawn up detailing the level and duration of the financial support that is to be provided, and the mechanism for review.

The following criteria will be applied to all such payments:

• The purpose of the payments must be to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child;
• As part of the assessment, a view should be taken as to whether the carers need financial support based on their reasonable requirements in taking on the care of the child;
• There are no other legitimate sources of finance;
• Payments will be paid to the carer, not the parents;
• The payment would not place any person in a fraudulent position.

Local authorities and regional adoption agencies can apply for therapeutic funding for eligible adoptive, special guardianship order and child arrangement order families. Local authorities and RAAs must apply to the ASGSF within 3 months of assessing a family’s support needs. The Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) is available to most children being raised under a Special Guardianship and Child Arrangement Order. This also includes children up to and including the age of 21, or 25 with an education, health and care (EHC) plan who:

• Are living (placed) with a family in England while waiting for adoption;
• Were adopted from local authority care in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland and live in England;
• Were adopted from abroad and live in England with a recognised adoption status;
• Were in care before an SGO was made;
• Left care under a special guardianship order that was subsequently changed to an adoption order, or vice versa;
• Are under a residency order or child arrangement order (CAO) and were previously looked after;
• Were previously looked after but where the adoption, special guardianship, residency or CAO placement has broken down, irrespective of any reconciliation plans.

For more information and how to apply see: Adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) Guidance

Kinship Carers in the Workplace: Guidance for Employers sets out best practice for supporting kinship carers at work, including the right to be entitled to leave benefits similar to that of parents and adopters.

Kinship carers may need support with accommodation, as their homes may not be of sufficient capacity to take on the care of a child or possibly a sibling group of children.

Living in cramped conditions may add to the pressures of caring for a child. Housing authorities and registered social landlords should be engaged to ensure that their policies recognise the importance of the role performed by kinship carers, and that whenever possible kinship carers living in social housing are given appropriate priority to move to more suitable accommodation if this will prevent the need for a child to become looked after.

Local authorities have the power under section 17 of the 1989 Act to give financial support towards accommodation costs where they assess this as the most appropriate way to safeguard and promote a child’s welfare.

To support the educational attainment of children who left local authority care through special guardianship or child arrangements order:

1. Virtual school heads have a statutory duty to promote the educational attainment of pupils who are no longer looked after because they are the subject of an adoption, special guardianship, or child arrangements order through the provision of information and advice to their parents, educators, and others they consider necessary;
2. All maintained schools and academies must appoint a designated teacher, who has a leadership role in promoting the educational achievement of every previously looked after child on the school’s roll. This includes making sure that all staff have high expectations of their learning and understand the importance of involving the child’s parents or guardians in decisions affecting their child’s education;
3. Previously looked after children attract Pupil Premium Plus funding, which is provided to help improve their education outcomes and close the attainment gap between them and their peers. It is paid to and managed by the school, with allocations based on the number of previously looked after children recorded in the school’s October school census return to the Department for Education;
4. Previously looked after children have top priority in school admissions and should be placed in good or outstanding schools;
5. Previously looked after children and those in formal kinship care arrangements are also eligible to be secured a school place through Fair Access Protocols.
   This is the mechanism which ensures that unplaced and vulnerable children who are having difficulty securing school places in-year are allocated one promptly.

The School Admissions Code provides that children being raised by family and friends carers under a Special Guardianship Order or Child Arrangements Order, who struggle to get a school place during the year, will be supported in finding one. 

In addition, Pupil Premium for permanently placed children (also known as Pupil Premium Plus) was introduced in 2014. Pupil Premium Plus is awarded in recognition that many adopted and permanently placed children need extra support in school because of the circumstances that led to them being placed into care, and later being adopted or being placed on a SGO or CAO. See Pupil Premium Overview.

Promoting the Education of Children with a Social Worker and Children in Kinship Care Arrangements: Virtual School Head Role Extension highlights the inclusion of children in kinship settings having access to the virtual school head program to continue to support their academic achievement.

The authority is under a duty to promote contact for all Children in Need, although this differs depending on whether or not the child is Looked After.

Where the child is not Looked After, we are required to promote contact between the child and their family 'where it is necessary to do so in order to safeguard and promote their welfare'. As part of the support arrangements, it may be identified that specific assistance is required to ensure that any such contact can be managed safely. If necessary, information will be made available to family and friends carers about local contact centres and family mediation services, and how to make use of their services.

Where a child is Looked After, we are required to endeavour to promote contact between the child and their family 'unless it is not practicable or consistent with the child's welfare'. The overall objective of the contact arrangements will be included in the child's Care Plan and the specific arrangements will be set out in the child's Placement Plan - see Contact with Parents/Adults and Siblings Procedure.