What is good practice in assessing and supportive kinship placements?
My interest in this area stems from the limited research and understanding surrounding kinship care, including its qualities and its downfalls, its popularity with both local authorities and the children concerned, as well as the experiences of kinship carers. There is a gap in UK research but the literature base in the US is much stronger (Farmer, 2008; Broad et al 2001b; Hunt et al, 2008). Hunt et al (2008) describe how, despite the intentions of the Children Act 1989, there has been little interest by government in commissioning research into kinship care. Hegar & Rosenthal (2009) discuss that the kinship role has been understudied for decades.
Kinship care, as defined…show more content… The definition extends the more conventional meaning of kinship as it is not restricted to blood relationships. The paramount consideration is the meaning of the relationship to the child. The carer may be a blood relative, a step relative, or a friend. ‘Kinship’ reflects the identity of the child, the family and the community. Kinship arrangements may be formal or informal: the legal status of the child does not define a kinship arrangement. (Talbot, 2006, pg 2)
Over 72,500 children are looked after on any given day in the UK, over 51,000 living with 43,000 foster families. In March 2005, 12.5% of ‘looked after’ children were living in family and friends foster placements (DfES, 2006); however, in 2008 this figure had risen to 16%. These statistics are based purely on formal arrangements of kinship care and it is estimated that there are a further 2-300,000 children living with kin informally (The Who Cares?…show more content… This change has been evident within Suffolk and nationwide, with large numbers of adopters waiting substantial periods of time to be matched.
The use of special guardianship orders has increased 158% since 2010 and Adoption UK have raised concerns that this rise is due to an over-reliance on them by local authority. In addition, there are concerns that the thresholds when assessing kin carers is lower that mainstream foster carers and adopters.
In July 2015, the Department of Education launched a review of special guardianship orders to ascertain whether or not the legal and practice framework underpinning the orders needs to be changed and to establish what best practice looks