New Education Minister meets kinship carers who are keeping children out of the care system 

On her visit since taking office, Janet Daby MP met with a group of kinship carers who are raising the children of relatives or friends, at charity Kinship’s head office.

New Education Minister Janet Daby met with a group of kinship carers yesterday (Thursday 11 July) to hear emotional stories of children being raised by relatives and family friends, because their parents are unable to care for them, and the kinship carers’ need for better support.

In her first visit since becoming Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Education, the Labour MP for Lewisham East and former children’s social worker chose to meet with ten kinship carers from London, at national charity Kinship’s offices in Vauxhall.

There are more than 141,000 children being raised in kinship care in England and Wales, more than double the number in foster care.

The new Minister took part in a moving and heartfelt discussion, in which kinship carers told her about the urgent need for greater financial support for kinship families like them. The grandparents, aunts and other relatives told the minister about the hardships they face and the stark contrast between the support available to foster carers and kinship carers. Others spoke about the emotional needs of the children in their care, many of whom have experienced early childhood trauma, and the lack of therapeutic support accessible to those ‘kinship children.’

Kinship’s CEO, Dr Lucy Peake said: “We were delighted to welcome the new Minister and introduce her to a few of the incredible people who step up to raise the child of a family member or friend, sacrificing much to do so.

“Children in kinship care have better outcomes than their peers in the care system, but we are not yet supporting kinship carers with the financial support, emotional support or training that we give to foster carers. Kinship carers don’t even have a right to paid leave from work, like adoption leave, which forces many of them out of work and into poverty.

“The new Government has a prodigious opportunity to go further and faster than any Government before on delivering the support that these families desperately need. Investing in kinship care keeps children out of the care system, transforming children’s futures and saving the public purse huge sums of money. The fact that the Minister spent her first visit listening to these families’ experiences gives me great hope that the new Government will give kinship care the transformational attention it needs.”

Education Minister Janet Daby said: “Opportunity starts with a loving, secure home and kinship carers play a crucial role by being the constant support in young people’s otherwise turbulent lives.

“It was a pleasure to meet some amazing people who care for vulnerable children for my first official Ministerial visit today to hear about the challenges they face. They often don’t get the recognition or support they deserve.

“I will use my 15 years of frontline social care experience to be a champion for kinship carers and their children – making sure every one of them gets the opportunity they deserve. Today was a brilliant first step.”

Aunt kinship carer Barbara said: “I’m blown away by the fact the new Minister chose to meet with kinship carers on her very first visit in post. She gave the impression that she was genuinely listening to our concerns and was taking everything we said on board. I felt like we were being heard for the first time. I’m excited to think about what we can achieve with the #ValueOurLove campaign. I’m feeling so motivated and ready to push the new Government for change – to help all kinship carers.”

Research commissioned by Kinship suggests that for every 1000 children raised in kinship care rather than in local authority care, the public purse saves £40 million per year and boosts the lifetime earnings of those children by £20 million.

Leading kinship care charity, Kinship, supports more than 10,000 kinship carers across England and Wales each year, through free training sessions, one-to-one support, peer support groups, an expert advice line and its online information and support hub. Through its network of kinship carer campaigners and #ValueOurLove campaign, Kinship works to raise awareness of the challenges facing kinship families and get kinship carers the recognition and support they need.