Kinship children are failing to get the mental health support they urgently need

More than 6 in 10 (60.1%) kinship carers say their children are failing to get the specialist mental health support they urgently need to deal with their trauma, a new Kinship poll of over 1,000 kinship carers published today reveals.

Without the right mental health support to help children in kinship care heal from childhood trauma and manage their complex emotions and unique needs, kinship families risk breaking down and children entering the care system.

With three times more children in kinship care in England than in unrelated foster care, Kinship has warned that too many children in kinship care are experiencing the impacts of life-changing trauma with insufficient support.

Two thirds (66%) of kinship carers – relatives and family friends raising 132,000 children in England when their parents can’t – say they’re struggling to manage their children’s challenging behaviours, mainly due to a lack of specialist and intensive support.

This marks a significant increase from just over half (52%) in 2022, based on Kinship’s most recent annual survey of 1,900 kinship carers.

The impact on families is stark. More than one in eight (13%) are concerned whether they can continue caring for their kinship children, with the majority (71%) citing difficulties managing their children’s social, emotional and mental health needs.

Kinship is urging the government to design support services for the complex and intensive needs of kinship children because the current system is not working.

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.

However, responding to the consultation, which closed earlier this week, Kinship argues these proposals insufficiently address the level of therapeutic support needed amongst kinship families and fail to consider how support must be delivered in a way which suits kinship families’ unique circumstances.

Like adopted children or those looked after in the care system, kinship children have high levels of mental health and therapeutic support needs arising from childhood experiences of trauma, separation and loss.

But the circumstances and support needed for kinship families are often very different from others. For example, kinship families are often managing complex family relationships, and kinship carers are more likely to be financially insecure, older and in poorer health than foster carers or adopters, and take on the care of children often at a time of crisis, with no advance warning or planning, and are given less support.

Additionally, many kinship carers say the ASGSF does not deliver the specialist support their children need, and thousands of kinship families are locked out of accessing this support altogether.

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Kinship Chief Executive, Lucy Peake said:

“Our latest evidence shows that the current mental health support for kinship children who have suffered high levels of trauma is not working.

“Kinship carers keep thousands of kinship children safe within loving families, but they can’t make their pain vanish. Day in day out they tell us that without the right tailored support kinship children urgently need, there’s a real risk that their families could break down, pushing children unnecessarily into the care system.

“It’s crucial the government takes this opportunity to provide kinship children with the specialist support they need to meet their needs, with access to therapeutic support for all children in kinship care.  The futures of thousands of children are depending upon it.”

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Further demonstrating the need for the right support, Kinship’s survey also found:

• 1 in 8 (12%) kinship carers were caring for a kinship child receiving support through Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).  

• Nearly a quarter (24%) said a kinship child in their care received mental health or wellbeing support through their school or college.  

• 8% received this through another service, most commonly local independent providers commissioned by the local authority or paid for privately.

• Nearly a quarter (24%) said a kinship child in their care received mental health or wellbeing support through their school or college.

• 8% received this through another service, mainly local independent providers commissioned by the local authority or paid for privately.

• 9% said at least one of their kinship children was on a waiting list for support.

• 10% said a referral had been or was being made.

Kinship’s survey also reveals that only 11% of eligible kinship families are currently receiving ASGSF-funded therapy compared to 50% of adoptive families.  The charity says awareness of the Fund is low, and access to it is particularly challenging for kinship carers which means many kinship carers face lengthy battles to secure support. Additionally, last year the annual therapy funding limit was cut from £5,000 to £3,000 per child, and the separate allowance for specialist assessments was scrapped.

Kinship is urging the government to involve kinship families in the design of a new system of support to ensure it meets their unique needs and is accessible to them.

Read Kinship’s response to the Department for Education’s ‘Adoption support that works for all’ consultation.