New Kinship research reveals urgent need to improve financial support for kinship carers

Kinship’s new research report, Out of Order, shows that a lack of financial and other support is stopping kinship foster carers moving to kinship arrangements outside the care system.

Our analysis of Department for Education figures and data obtained via Freedom of Information requests reveal that despite a growing number of children entering and remaining in kinship foster care in the last five years, movement to kinship arrangements outside of the care system has stalled.

Our survey of kinship carers finds that four in 10 children in kinship foster care are not expected to move to other kinship arrangements outside the care system. While kinship carers want permanence and stability, they say they do not want to lose vital financial and other support for themselves and their children.

Kinship’s data backs up kinship carer fears and shows that special guardians on average receive £40 less per child per week compared to kinship foster carers, while kinship carers with a child arrangements order receive around £54 less per week per child.

Our publication, Out of Order, argues that this helps to explain why many kinship foster carers are reluctant to move away from this arrangement, and why some special guardians report feeling pushed or bullied into moving on from kinship foster care by children’s services.

Sam Turner, Kinship’s head of policy and public affairs, and author of Out of Order, said: “This perverse incentive for children in kinship care to remain looked after in local authority care when they don’t need to be, must end.

“The Government has a huge opportunity to equalise the support offered to kinship carers giving them the financial security and parental responsibility they want and need so that children can leave the care system and live with loving well-supported families.

“The forthcoming Autumn Budget and Spending Review offer two key moments where this new Government can deliver what’s needed to ensure decisions can be made in the best interests of the child.”

We continue to argue that equalising financial allowances between kinship foster carers and kinship carers supported outside the care system would be better for families and reduce pressure on local authority budgets. (Our economic case for kinship care suggests that, for every 1000 children looked after in well-supported kinship care rather than local authority care, the state saves £40 million and increases the lifetime earnings of those children by £20 million.)

We’re also urging the new UK Government to accelerate the stalled commitment to deliver a financial allowances pathfinder in up to 8 local authorities in England and make investment in financial allowances a priority in the next Spending Review given the opportunity to transform the lives of thousands of children and support a more secure financial footing for cash-strapped local authorities.

Our Out of Order research recommendations include:

• The UK and Welsh Governments should deliver a non-means tested financial allowance to kinship carers at least equal to the national minimum fostering allowance.
• The new UK Government should accelerate the financial allowances pathfinder in England and ensure it does not paralyse progress towards a wider rollout of allowances.
• Local authorities should copy leading practice in the provision of non-means tested financial allowances for kinship carers and avoid risk of legal challenge.
• Kinship carers should be provided with free high-quality independent advice and information including legal advice to help them make informed decisions.

Read Out of Order: The case for boosting financial support for kinship arrangements outside the care system