Kinship Navigator trial gets underway across four local authorities

Kinship has launched an exciting new pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) of our Kinship Connected navigator programme in partnership with Foundations – What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care, marking a significant step forward in building more robust evidence about what best supports kinship families.

The research trial brings together four local authorities – Blackpool, Newham, Oxfordshire and Rochdale – each selected for their commitment to improving outcomes for children raised by relatives and friends, and for the distinctive strengths they bring to the project.

Why Kinship Navigators?

Kinship Connected is an evidence-based and independently evaluated kinship navigator programme. Kinship Navigators provide dedicated, specialist support for kinship carers, helping families understand their rights, navigate complex systems, access services and financial support and feel less isolated in their kinship caring role.

Kinship carers often face significant challenges, such as financial hardship, lack of information and limited access to tailored support. The Kinship Navigator model directly addresses these gaps by offering:

• a single, trusted point of contact for kinship carers in a local area
• practical, financial and emotional support, tailored to meet the needs of each kinship family
• early, preventative help that reduces the likelihood of placement breakdown
• strong links between voluntary sector expertise and statutory services

Kinship Connected is a pioneering approach and the UK’s most developed and evidence-based kinship navigator programme. This research trial  may be followed by a full randomised control trial, underpinning our commitment to develop even stronger evidence that our programme delivers positive outcomes for kinship families, helping to strengthen the national evidence base and inform future policy and practice.

This will be carried out by the Centre for Evidence and Implementation (CEI) and Ipsos.

Building the evidence with Foundations

Foundations’ Kinship Care Practice Guide sets out what the evidence tells us works (and what doesn’t) for supporting kinship carers and their families. This is based on international evidence, especially from the USA where there has been a longer history of investment in high quality evaluations. One of the programmes identified as having positive impact is Kinship Navigator in the USA.  A randomised controlled trial (RCT) is the gold standard for testing whether a programme really works, by comparing outcomes for families who receive the support with those who receive what would normally be available. Working with Foundations – What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care ensures the trial in the UK is designed and delivered to the highest standards.

This is particularly important at a time when kinship care is receiving increasing attention across children’s social care, and decision-makers need clear, reliable evidence to guide investment and scale effective approaches.

Why these four local authorities?

The four participating local authorities were selected through a careful process, with a focus on population diversity, kinship support system maturity, readiness to take part in robust evaluation and a shared commitment to collaboration and learning.

Together, they represent a mix of rural, urban and coastal areas helping ensure the findings are relevant across different parts of the country.

By working across these four areas, the research trial will capture a richer picture of how Kinship Connected can be implemented effectively.

Looking ahead

This trial comes after our CEO, Lucy Peake, visited the USA on a Churchill Fellowship to learn about navigator programmes, and it represents an important opportunity to develop evidence in the UK to inform kinship policy and practice developments.

By combining the expertise of Kinship grounded in kinship families’ lived experience, the delivery strength of local authorities and Foundations’ rigorous evaluation approach, we aim to generate evidence that can drive lasting change and impact, ensuring kinship families get the support and stability they deserve.

We look forward to sharing learning from the trial as it progresses and to continuing to work with local authority partners across the country to improve outcomes for children growing up in kinship care.