Learn how Kinship shapes policy and advocates for change. Through collaboration with families and policymakers, we work to ensure kinship carers’ voices are heard and supported across England and Wales.
Support for children in kinship care
The virtual school heads role has been extended to include children in kinship care.
Slow progress
Previous status: blocked – action needed in December 2023.
On this page
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Current action
The National Kinship Care Strategy committed to extending the remit of Virtual School Heads to include children in kinship care via a £3.8 million investment over 2024-5. This extension is twofold: new guidance encourages Virtual Schools Heads as part of their existing responsibilities to champion educational attendance, attainment and progress of all children in kinship care, regardless of arrangement; and the Virtual Schools’ specific responsibilities re: providing advice and information are now extended to special guardians and those with child arrangements order regardless of whether or not the child was in care.
In March 2024, further information and guidance was published on the Virtual School extension to commence from September 2024, including expectations and funding arrangements for local authority Virtual Schools.
The National Kinship Care Strategy also notes ongoing work to update national standards and statutory guidance for the provision of children’s advocacy services will consider eligible children and young people in kinship care (e.g. looked after children or children in need) to help them understand their rights and entitlements.
Our verdict
Children in kinship care have been largely absent from discussion of kinship care reform; neither the Stable Homes, Built on Love strategy nor the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care considered what needed to change for kinship children directly. This is despite evidence showing how their needs and experiences are typically very similar to those who enter local authority care. Our #ValueOurLove campaign has therefore been crucial in pushing the UK Government to rectify this and ensure children in kinship care get the emotional and educational support they need to heal and thrive.
We’re delighted to see recognition the voices of thousands of kinship carers who have campaigned for improved support for their children at school. The expansion of the Virtual School Heads role will help create new opportunities for improved understanding and support for kinship children in education, and we look forward to sharing insight from our work with Leeds Virtual School and the National Association of Virtual School Heads (NAVSH) to ensure this expansion makes a difference for kinship families. However, there is still much more which can be done as outlined below and within our report – Forgotten: Support for kinship children’s education and mental health.
What should happen next
The UK Government should harmonise the existing patchwork of support for kinship children in England and introduce new legislation which guarantees equalised levels of support between children in all forms of kinship care and children looked after in local authority care. This should involve coordinating duties and remits across the triangle of support available through the Virtual School, Pupil Premium Plus and the designated teacher, providing a clear, cohesive and comprehensive offer to all kinship families.
In the interim, the unique needs, experiences and strengths of kinship children should be considered in delivery of Virtual School, Pupil Premium Plus, designated teacher and Personal Education Plan support to all of those eligible. Additional steps should be taken to ensure all eligible families of previously looked after children in kinship care are aware of the self-declaration process for Pupil Premium Plus. Priority school admissions should be extended to all children in kinship care, and further and higher education providers should extend support to those with experience of kinship care.
A full set of recommendations for improving educational support for children in kinship care can be found in our Forgotten report.
Further research must be undertaken to better understand children in kinship care and their carers’ views on the support they would like and how this can be best offered, conscious of the unique position of kinship care and the perspectives of children on their identities and family life. Whilst the evidence suggests that many children in kinship care would benefit from improved access to support across health and education, the complex routes in and through kinship care – and the impact this has on children’s identity and families’ relationships with the local authority and other services – may not warrant an identical approach to provision and oversight as with other groups.
Continued engagement must also include listening and acting on the views of children growing up in kinship care; their perspectives and views are far less well understood and evidenced in the literature than for other groups supported by children’s social care, despite some limited examples of welcome research.
Related content
We carry out research and share it with decision-makers and others to call for improvements in law, policy and professional practice. See all of our research and reports.
Learn more about the kinship families in your local area with our constituency figures.