Kinship Fostering

About Kinship Care

Kinship Foster Care, or Family and Friends Foster Care, is all about working together with the Fostering Service to provide long-term care to children born within the family or friendship circle.

Grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings or other adults who are caring for a child, are providing kinship foster care.

Offering a child or young person a lifelong commitment in a stable and loving environment is not easy, particularly if you have little experience or parenting or if your children are grown up and have left home.  Local authorities help and assist carers with support, advice and in some cases, weekly allowances.

Once it has been agreed that a child will live with you, a social worker from the Local Authority Adoption & Fostering Service will arrange to come and see you to start your ‘assessment’. If there is an Agency working with the child, the LA may request them to undertake the assessment.

During a series of meetings, they will gather information about you and your circumstances in order to show that you are able to become a Kinship Foster Carer.

Any future training or support needs will be discussed and agreed during your assessment.

All the normal checks carried out for foster carers will be taken during this process, (Criminal Records Bureau, Medical, NSPCC, Social Services) on you and anyone else over the age of 18 years living in your home.  Although the process may take some time – the assessment can take as little as 8 weeks – you will be informed every step of the way.

Contact your Local Agency or Local Authority for more information on Kinship Foster Care.