After a decade of warnings, kinship children are still ‘invisible’, unable to access vital mental health support

11 November 2026

A decade of evidence, repeated warnings and calls for change have failed to deliver meaningful progress for children growing up in kinship care, who remain largely invisible and continue to be denied the specialist mental health support they need to recover from their unique childhood trauma.

Kinship’s new report published today – Time Hasn’t Healed – has examined progress over the past ten years, and revealed the scale of this ongoing inaction, with nearly seven in ten kinship carers (69%) reporting that a child in their care displays behaviours they struggle to manage – this has risen by 17% in just four years.

Our report based on Kinship’s annual survey of nearly 1,500 kinship carers paints a devastating picture of the lack of support available to the 141,000 children in England and Wales living with relatives and family friends when their parents cannot care for them.

Despite growing political recognition of kinship care over the last ten years, and the positive impact of more recent reforms, kinship children are still being left behind. Kinship carers report that support for children experiencing trauma, loss and separation has in fact declined. Compared to 2016, kinship carers are less likely to report that their children are receiving the support they need for their healthy emotional and social development, and to learn and achieve at school.

We’re warning that proposed government reforms risk deepening these inequalities unless the unique needs and experiences of kinship children are properly recognised and supported.

Key findings from our annual survey reveal:

  • In 2026, 26% of kinship carers said their children were not receiving the support they need for healthy emotional and social development, compared to 22% in 2016.
  • In 2026, 22% of kinship carers said their children were not getting the support they need to learn and achieve at school, compared to 18% in 2022.

Our report also suggests that kinship children’s needs are becoming increasingly complex, making access to specialist support more important than ever. Experiences of trauma, separation and loss can have a major impact on children’s development and may lead to significant emotional and mental health difficulties requiring specialist therapy.

Nearly seven in ten kinship carers (69%) say a child in their care regularly displays behaviours they find challenging to manage – up from just over five in ten (52%) in 2022. We warn that this points to growing levels of need which, without effective support, risk worsening mental ill-health and family instability.

Poppy, 25, from London, who was raised in kinship care by her grandmother from the age of eight, said:

“I felt safe and loved with my grandmother, but it was really hard to cope with what was going on. I could see the sacrifices my grandmother was making – giving up her job and trying to raise me without any support. It was incredibly difficult and not part of her life plan, and I felt a bit responsible for that.

“Kinship children and young people can feel invisible because people don’t understand your support needs. I didn’t have a counsellor who I could talk to and who could help me make sense of my feelings. It was really confusing.

“It wasn’t until I was 17 that somebody asked about how I was feeling and why. If I’d had that support years earlier, it would have been much easier to manage my anxiety. It’s not fair that so many kinship children are left to struggle alone after such difficult starts in life. We all deserve the support we need to heal.” 

Our findings follow last year’s reductions in funding for therapeutic support for some kinship children through the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF). Despite significant need:

  • 37% saw the level of support for their children via the ASGSF reduced, and 17% were unable to access the support recommended by a specialist assessment.
  • 19% experienced a delay in their application being processed and 16% had an unplanned break in therapy.
  • Our report also highlights that more than one in ten kinship carers are worried about whether they can continue caring for their children, with most citing challenges linked to children’s social, emotional and mental health needs.

For many kinship children, the consequences of this lack of support can last for years.

Lucas, 19, from Bradford, who grew up in kinship care with his grandmother from the age of three when his parents were unable to raise him, said:

“As a child, nobody really asked me how I felt about being in kinship care. I didn’t even know that I was in kinship care. What I needed was somebody who understood my questions about my identity and to have therapy to help me work out who I was. I knew my nan loved me, but she wasn’t equipped to deal with everything I was experiencing. 

“There were periods where I would spend days in my room, only really leaving when I had to. Some of that was depression, but some of it was loneliness too.

“I think early therapeutic support would have really helped me. It needs to change as you grow and begin to understand your story. It needs to recognise that every child’s experience of kinship care is different. And it needs to support kinship carers too, because their wellbeing has an enormous impact on the children they’re raising.” 

Kinship is urging the government to work with kinship families to design support services that meet the complex, intensive needs of kinship children, because the current system is not working.

Kinship children who have suffered trauma, separation and loss have high levels of mental health and therapeutic support needs. While many have similar needs to children in care who have clearer routes to mental health support, it is a unique circumstance to have been separated from your parents, often without warning, but to remain within a family setting. Yet many kinship families struggle to access the right support.

In February, the government launched a consultation on proposals to reform mental health and wellbeing support for adoptive families and eligible kinship families, including changes to the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF), which funds therapeutic support for some children in kinship care.

We argue that these proposals do not sufficiently address the level of therapeutic support needed among kinship families and fail to consider how support must be delivered in ways that suit kinship families’ unique circumstances.

Unlike adopters and foster carers, kinship carers often step up during family crisis with little or no preparation. They often manage complex family relationships and are more likely to be financially insecure, older and in poorer health. These realities require support that is tailored to kinship families rather than simply pivoted from other forms of care.

Kinship Chief Executive, Lucy Peake said:

“Despite positive reforms for kinship care in recent years, when it comes to mental health support for kinship children, ten years on kinship carers are still telling us the same thing: that their children are still largely invisible when it comes to accessing support for the trauma, separation and loss they have experienced. It’s a tragedy that support for kinship children has declined rather than improved. 

“Our report shows that too many children growing up in kinship care are being failed by a system that does not recognise or respond to their needs. Kinship carers provide safe, loving and stable homes for thousands of children who might otherwise enter the care system. But love alone cannot heal their trauma.

“While the government is looking at the declining mental health of all children, we must not ignore the needs of kinship children who have seen a reduction in access to support following changes to the ASGSF. The government must recognise the forgotten group of children in our society, and act now to transform the system and outcomes for kinship children. This will only happen if their unique needs are at the heart of reform and every child can access timely specialist therapeutic support. 

“The cost of getting this wrong will be measured in children’s lives and futures. Kinship care is saving the government millions, and kinship families deserve to thrive, not just survive.”

Through the launch of our new Kinship Minds online learning programme, we’re expanding our support for kinship carers to better understand and respond to the emotional wellbeing and mental health needs of the children they raise. While online courses like Kinship Minds can help kinship carers to understand what might be behind children’s behaviour and discover practical ways to respond that help them feel safe and supported, many children in kinship care require more specialist and intensive therapeutic support. The government must ensure kinship families can access the dedicated services they need.

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