Defining kinship care

What’s happening now?

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced in Parliament in December 2024, provides a definition of kinship care to support the delivery of the new kinship local offer requirement.

What’s happened previously?

In the National Kinship Care Strategy, the then 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. This was developed further in updated statutory guidance on kinship care.

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

The National Kinship Care Strategy also noted that the Department for Education and other governmental departments would replace use of the term ‘family and friends care’ with ‘kinship care’.

Our verdict

The  definition adopted by government helpfully 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.

A comprehensive definition of kinship care in legislation is welcome to improve visibility and clarity, but this will not in isolation improve the negative experiences which many kinship carers face in engaging with services and professional without additional awareness-raising and training. In itself, a definition will not deliver better support for kinship families, nor is it an essential condition for this. This is why the #ValueOurLove campaign and Kinship’s policy and campaigns activity continues to prioritise securing commitments to tangible financial, practical and emotional support.

Most government action to improve support continues to target specific groups of kinship carers, such as special guardians or those raising children who were previously looked after, undermining the definition’s value. We have 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 and since – such as the financial allowances pathfinder and part of the extension of Virtual School Head support – continue to restrict 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.