Forgotten: Support for kinship children’s education and mental health
20 August 2024
For too long, children in kinship care have been ignored and overlooked.
Forgotten shares insights from our 2023 annual survey of kinship carers to reveal how a complex, inadequate and often inaccessible landscape of support for kinship children’s education and mental health is resulting in significant challenges for kinship families across England and Wales. Given the legacy of childhood trauma for children who enter kinship care and the impact this can have on their learning and wellbeing, the UK and Welsh Governments and local authorities should prioritise delivering urgent support tailored to the unique needs and strengths of all kinship families.
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- Too many kinship children aren’t getting the educational support they need
- There is a high prevalence of special educational needs amongst children in kinship care, but many are missing out on a diagnosis and formalised support in school
- Children in kinship care are struggling with their mental health, and emotional and therapeutic support for this group is lacking
- Some kinship children need additional support to manage contact and navigate their family relationships and identity
Too many kinship children aren’t getting the educational support they need.
A complex hierarchy of eligibility – dependent largely on the type of kinship arrangement and whether or not the child is or was previously looked after – is dictating whether or not kinship children receive help with their learning.
Individual teachers and schools are often working against the system to go above and beyond to support kinship children where they can. Too few eligible kinship children are accessing Virtual School support and kinship carers are frustrated with a lack of information about the use of Pupil Premium Plus funding.
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Only 54% of children in kinship care are getting the support they need in education
There is a high prevalence of special educational needs amongst children in kinship care, but many are missing out on a diagnosis and formalised support in school.
Children in kinship care have similar levels of special educational needs to those in local authority care, but are far less likely to have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. This gap is blocking kinship children from getting the help they need to learn well in school.
Kinship carers are battling to secure diagnoses and assessments for their children to unlock crucial support, and want to see greater recognition of and training around the impact which childhood trauma has on their children’s learning and behaviour.
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31% of children in kinship care have diagnosed or suspected social, emotional and mental health needs
Children in kinship care are struggling with their mental health, and emotional and therapeutic support for this group is lacking.
Children in kinship care are much more likely than their peers to have mental health difficulties. A lack of emotional and therapeutic support, particularly for those in informal arrangements, is pushing many families to breaking point.
Too few eligible kinship families are accessing the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund and many are struggling to find effective support which recognises the experiences of kinship children.
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1 in 8 kinship carers had been forced to pay for therapeutic support out of their own pockets
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3 in 5 kinship carers whose children had ongoing contact with family members said they experienced difficulties with the emotional impact of contact
Act now: sign Poppy's open letter
Support the #ValueOurLove campaign by joining together with celebrities raised in kinship care to tell the UK Government not to forget about kinship children.
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Discover more reports, briefings and responses from Kinship and keep up to date with with what’s happening with kinship care policy in England at our kinship care policy tracker.
Policy and influencing