Stepping up to raise a child can be expensive, and money worries are common for kinship carers. Find out what financial support and benefits are available to you.
Adoption and special guardianship support fund for kinship carers
Information about the adoption and special guardianship support fund for kinship carers.
This advice applies to: England and Wales
Update on 2025-26 financial year
The government has renewed the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) for 2025-26. However, they have announced several changes to how the fund will operate. The information on this page reflects these changes.
To find out more about how the fund has changed, see our section on updates to the ASGSF in 2025-26.
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What is the adoption and special guardianship support fund?
Some kinship carers can get financial support from the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF).
The fund can help you pay for essential therapeutic services, such as creative therapies or life story work.
In April 2025, the government announced changes to the ASGSF. See our section on updates to the ASGSF in 2025-26 for more information.
Read government information on the adoption and special guardianship support fund (GOV.UK)
Who is eligible?
Children who are eligible include those up to and including the age of 21, (or 25 with an education, health and care plan), who:
- were in the care of children’s services before a special guardianship order was made
- are under a residence order or child arrangements order and were previously looked after
- left the care of children’s services under a special guardianship order that was subsequently changed to an adoption order, or vice versa
- were previously looked after but where the special guardianship order, residency or child arrangements order placement has broken down, regardless of any reconciliation plans
Contact your local authority’s children’s services to ask if the child you care for is eligible. Find contact details by using Kinship Compass, our kinship support services finder.
What the fund pays for
You can use financial support from the adoption and special guardianship support fund to pay for:
- creative therapies, such as art, music, drama and play therapy
- extensive therapeutic life story work to help the young person understand and cope with their past trauma and difficulties
- family therapy to build attachment and improve the relationship between you and the child you care for
- psychotherapy (or talking therapy) for your child
- sensory integration therapy or sensory attachment therapy
- therapeutic parenting training for kinship carers
- therapeutic short breaks
It can also pay for specialist assessments that lead to a therapeutic support plan for your family. The assessments are carried out by qualified clinicians and should be focused on trauma and attachment.
The fund cannot be used to assess specific conditions unless they are part of a wider specialist assessment.
How to apply
Children’s services apply to the fund on your behalf. You can ask children’s services for an assessment. You may need to ask the adoption and permanence team, family and friends care designated officer, or a different department. If you are not sure who to ask, the social worker who helped you get the special guardianship order or child arrangements order may be able to help.
Children’s services should apply to the adoption and special guardianship support fund within 3 months of assessing you.
The children’s services department that placed the child with you is responsible for assessing your support needs for up to 3 years. After that, it becomes the responsibility of the children’s services department where you live.
How much will I get?
The ASGSF allows for up to £3,000 per child per year for therapy (this limit includes the cost of a specialist assessment). This means that if a child receives a specialist assessment costing £2,500, they can receive no more than £500 worth of therapy.
Prior to April 2025, in some cases local authorities or regional adoption agencies (RAAs) would match-fund applications above the limit (up to £30,000). As of April 2025, this extra funding is no longer available.
How to appeal
You cannot contact the adoption and special guardianship support fund directly. If you disagree with children’s services’ assessment, you will need to go through its appeals process.
Once the assessment is complete, children’s services should tell you about the outcome in writing and must let you know how long you have to appeal the decision (28 days is recommended good practice).
Children’s services cannot make a final decision until the deadline for appealing has passed, or you have told them you are happy with the proposed decision.
Read government information on the adoption and special guardianship support fund (GOV.UK).
Updates to the ASGSF in 2025-26
On April 14 2025, the government announced changes to the ASGSF, effective immediately. Below are some of the key questions you might have about these changes.
If you have specific questions about applying to the fund, please contact your local authority. You can find your local authority and the relevant contact details using our Kinship Compass tool.
The Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed that any applications already approved will be honoured as agreed.
The fund is no longer accepting applications for 2024-25, even if these were submitted prior to 31 March 2025. Any applications will need to be resubmitted under the 2025-26 rules.
All applications submitted before the announcement will be returned for review and resubmission as appropriate, even if they meet the new criteria.
The government has said the following:
“DfE will advise as soon as possible. We appreciate the difficulty of ongoing uncertainty on this and will do our best to clarify the position when we can. At present, applications which extend into 2026-27 cannot be accepted.”
The Department for Education (DfE) has said they will accept applications if the gap between the assessment and the application is up to 4 months, rather than up to 3 months as it was previously.
The Department for Education (DfE) has said that, until the end of June 2025, they are allowing retrospective therapy applications back to 1 April, providing that the following conditions apply:
- the application meets the new criteria
- the application is made no later than 4 weeks after the start of therapy
- the reason therapy has started was to avoid a break in therapy, and/or to prevent placement breakdown
- the application was delayed because of the delayed opening of the ASGSF and/or the application needed to be amended because of the changed criteria
From 1 July 2025, where the date of the first session is before the submission date of the application, applications will only be approved in exceptional circumstances.
The same rules apply for specialist assessments, providing there was a risk of placement breakdown without urgent action.
Support from Kinship
Here at Kinship, we offer a range of free support for all kinship carers, including workshops, online advice and information, and support groups.
To find services, information and support in your local area, including information about your local children’s services, use our Kinship Compass tool.
You can also contact the Kinship advice team for free, non-judgmental advice and information if you live in England or Wales.
Related advice and information
Information and advice on the types of financial support available to kinship carers with a special guardianship order.
Information on special guardianship orders for kinship carers, including how they work and available support.
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