Kinship and Lancaster University launch groundbreaking co-production research and toolkit

The Centre for Child and Family Justice Research at Lancaster University and Kinship co-hosted a webinar with kinship carers, researchers and professionals to launch new joint research Co-producing research into kinship care: opportunities and challenges along with a practical toolkit designed to put kinship carers at the heart of future kinship care research.

The research sets out clear recommendations for how kinship carers can be meaningfully involved at every stage of the research process, as well as key lessons for researchers, practitioners, universities, funders and policymakers.

To accompany the research, Kinship has launched a new toolkit which provides principles and practical guidance for co-producing research with kinship carers from the very beginning of a project.

This marks the first co-produced report into kinship care research and practical toolkit for the sector.

The research, funded by an Economic Research Council Impact Acceleration Award and the Department for Education, demonstrates why it is essential that kinship carers help shape and design studies about their own experiences – and in doing so can lead to richer insights, more robust research, better-informed practice and policy, more effective services and support, and ultimately, better outcomes for kinship families.

With local authorities in England now required to co-produce a kinship local offer with kinship families detailing the local support available to them, this is a crucial moment to strengthen co-production practice across the sector. The toolkit can be used by anyone wanting to co-produce effectively with kinship carers.

The key principles for “getting co-production right” outlined in the toolkit include:

• look for opportunities to involve kinship carers in every stage of research
• involve kinship carers genuinely, be transparent and don’t be tokenistic
• build trust and understanding
• approach with empathy, respect and genuine interest in carers’ experiences
• avoid assumptions and judgements

Guidance on things that matter to kinship carers:

• understanding kinship carers and their motivations
• how to reach kinship carers
• barriers, obstacles and support to overcome these
• the importance of thanking and valuing
• sharing the impact

The launch webinar was chaired by researcher and kinship carer, Clare Walsh, who initiated the research after seeing how rarely kinship carers are invited to use their expertise to shape research design and delivery.

During the research project, 21 kinship carers took part in online focus groups to explore their motivations for taking part in the project, identify barriers to co-produced research and propose practical solutions. A further 10 kinship carers took part in face-to-face workshops to co-create the toolkit, using the key research findings to underpin this.

Libby, a kinship carer involved in the project, said: “The best part about taking part in the development of the toolkit was the realisation that as kinship carers we are the experts on kinship care because we live it every day and that’s why it’s so important to involve us in research, services and policies.”

Read the co-production research and access the toolkit.

If you or colleagues would like to explore working together with Kinship on the development of your local offer and involving kinship carers in this, get in touch with Kinship’s Practice Lead Tim Fisher: tim.fisher@kinship.org.uk.

If you’re a kinship carer, find out more about getting involved in Kinship’s research projects.