New Kinship report highlights needs of kinship children are overlooked and ignored 

Kinship’s new report Forgotten: Support for kinship children’s education and mental health highlights that children being raised by relatives or family friends in kinship care are often suffering from life-changing trauma with no support.

According to our research, children being raised by relatives or family friends because their parents are unable to care for them are being denied access to the support they need to heal from early childhood trauma.

We are urging the new Government to urgently improve support for the kinship children in every school playground who have been through trauma, such as abuse, neglect, separation and loss, but whose needs are being overlooked and ignored.

There are more than 141,000 children living in kinship care in England and Wales – three times the number living with unrelated foster carers.

Kinship’s survey of more than 1600 kinship carers found that almost half (48%) of kinship carers felt the child in their care’s adverse experiences, such as separation from parents, abuse, neglect or bereavement, had negatively impacted on their ability to cope in education. This includes struggling to manage their emotions, adapt to the school environment and perform well in exams.

The report found that whilst children in kinship care have usually experienced similar trauma, adversity and loss to children living in foster and residential care, only 4 in 10 (43%) kinship carers said their children had ever accessed any emotional or therapeutic support.

Half (51%) of kinship carers said their children currently had mental health difficulties. According to the report, the early childhood trauma many children carry with them into kinship care is often compounded by ongoing, complex, family relationships. This can include contact with their parents, which, unlike foster carers, kinship families usually receive no support to manage.

The new research also shows that children in kinship care in England have a much higher rate of suspected special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) than their peers (47%, compared to 17% in the wider population). Despite this, far fewer children in kinship care in England (15%) have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan than other children supported by the local authority, such as those looked after in care for more than 12 months (30%) or identified as children in need (28%). The data shows that the growing crisis in SEND support is likely to be disproportionately impacting children in kinship care.

Dr Lucy Peake, CEO of Kinship said: “The failure of successive governments to provide support for children in kinship care is inexcusable. There are kinship children in every school playground who have been through trauma, such as abuse, neglect, separation and loss, but whose needs are being overlooked and ignored. Children in kinship care are being denied the support they need to be healthy and happy, to learn well at school and to thrive.

“The previous UK Government’s National Kinship Care Strategy for England (December 2023) [insert link to news story] completely failed to address the lack of support for kinship children’s mental health needs, educational needs and family relationships. But all this can and must change.

“Any child that cannot be raised by their parents has experienced unimaginable trauma at a very young age. They’ve been separated from their parents and perhaps siblings, possibly as a result of abuse, neglect or bereavement. A relative or family friend steps up, offering the child a loving and stable home. It doesn’t make their trauma vanish. Their health and development will continue to be impacted unless they get the specialist support they need.

“This year, there is huge potential for the new Labour Government to rewrite the future for thousands of children in kinship care. If it is serious in its mission to break down barriers to opportunity so that all children can reach their potential, then it must not forget about children in kinship care. This Government must take immediate, bold steps to improve support for them.”

“In Wales, the new First Minister must harness the opportunity provided by a renewed national focus on the experiences of children and the wellbeing of future generations, to improve support for children in kinship care.”

Poppy, 23, from London, who was raised by her grandmother from the age of eight, said: “I had seen and experienced things no child should at such a young age. I was so relieved when I moved in with my grandmother, because I knew I was safe, but it was confusing and overwhelming. Neither myself nor my grandmother knew how to handle our relationship, or our relationships with my mother. Eventually, I reached a crisis point and felt I couldn’t cope. If we had been offered counselling, advice and support back then, I think it would have reduced my anxiety and helped me cope in school and at home. People don’t understand kinship care and it means you’re always having to fight against systems that don’t have the space for you.”

Read the report Forgotten: Support for kinship children’s education and mental health.

Learn about how the lack of support impacted Poppy in our short film.

Sign Poppy’s open letter calling on the UK Government to improve support for children in kinship care.