Research into kinship care has found that 60% of kinship carers do not feel they were well supported by social services when a child moved in with them. The report, Growing up in kinship care by Grandparents Plus, sets out the findings of a study into the experiences and outcomes of young adults (aged 16-26) who had lived, or who continued to live, in kinship care. They interviewed 53 young people and 43 kinship carers. More than two-thirds of the kinship carers were grandparents, and two-thirds of the children had been abused and/or neglected when with their parents. Children’s services were involved in 84% of the families at the time the move was made, but a lack of support was highlighted. Over a quarter of the carers mentioned help from other professionals such as GPs, health visitors and teachers, and a third spoke of help from support groups and voluntary organisations. However, the help that was most widely used from other family members and friends.
Kinship carers not well supported by children’s services
