Defining kinship care

Current status

In the National Kinship Care Strategy, the current Government outlined a new ‘government definition’ of kinship care. This followed consultation in 2023 on a working definition published in Stable Homes, Built on Love, following the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care’s recommendation to establish a legal definition of kinship care. The definition has and will continue to be used in other statutory guidance, but no plans are in place at present to enshrine the definition in primary legislation.

More widely, the Department for Education and other governmental departments will replace use of the term ‘family and friends care’ with ‘kinship care’, including within new statutory guidance for local authorities.

The Law Commission’s future kinship care project has confirmed that its scope will include consideration of producing a legal definition of kinship care.

Our verdict

We support the idea of a comprehensive definition of kinship care to help to improve the visibility of kinship all types of kinship family across policymaking and public services, which could in turn support more kinship carers to better understand their rights and entitlements and go on to access support.

However, a definition will not in isolation improve the negative experiences which many kinship carers face in engaging with services and professionals, including those in education, health, welfare and housing, who do not recognise or understand their family situations. In addition, it will not in itself lead to better support for kinship families, nor is it an essential condition to have before this is delivered, which is why the #ValueOurLove campaign and Kinship’s policy and campaigns activity continues to prioritise securing commitments to tangible financial, practical and emotional support.

The government definition pulls together different types of kinship care arrangements already understood but not clearly defined as ‘kinship care’ in other legislation and guidance, and builds on this to also include those missing or excluded from existing categories. For example, the new definition covers relatives such as great aunts, great uncles and cousins who wouldn’t be included within the existing definition of ‘close family member’ within the Children Act 1989. This is important and welcome – 11% of kinship carers who completed our 2022 annual survey would not be understood as ‘close family members’ for example.

However, current plans for kinship care reform fail to effectively utilise the definition. We argued firmly that any new definition should be accompanied by a clear pathway for all kinship carers to access high-quality support from the Government, local authorities and other partners. Instead, commitments made in the National Kinship Care Strategy – such as the financial allowances pathfinder and part of the extension of Virtual School Heads – continue to undermine the definition’s value by restricting support to particular groups of kinship carers. Instead of simplifying and working to introduce new support for a wider group of kinship carers, this instead introduces further hierarchies in which groups of kinship carers have eligibility for particular entitlements.

Moving towards use ‘kinship care’ rather than ‘family and friends care’ is very welcome; consistent use of terminology across Government and beyond will improve understanding and enable more kinship carers to identify as kinship carers.

What should happen next

We hope the adoption of an inclusive definition will support Government, public services and others who impact the lives of children and families to better recognise and understand all kinship families. In the future, the Government should seek to more actively use the definition in determining who is eligible for support, even if the approach or mechanism for delivery may vary between groups. All kinship carers – regardless of the legal order or lack thereof securing the family arrangement – typically have similar needs, experiences and strengths, and this should be reflected in the support offered to them.

The Department for Education should also now detail how it will use the definition to raise awareness and ensure the needs and strengths of kinship families are considered in wider policy-making and service provision across other governmental departments and in other relevant programmes of work such as family hubs and the Start for Life programme. This should include an ambitious programme to boost awareness of kinship care within public services and groups of professionals who are likely to engage with kinship families, including primary health practitioners. Without this active effort, a new definition in guidance alone will not help to eradicate the stigma, discrimination and lack of understanding which too many kinship carers face.