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What is a Kinship Carer?

Kinship carers are amazing people who step in to care for children when their parents can’t. Often grandparents, relatives, or close family friends, they provide love and stability. By keeping families together and offering a safe home, kinship carers play a vital role in a child’s life and deserve recognition and support.

Types of Kinship Care

• Private foster care –  someone who is not a child’s parent or close relative, such as a great aunt, cousin, mum’s friend or neighbour), looks after them for 28 days or more. Private fostering arrangements are agreed by the parent and private foster carer and not the local authority. As a private foster carer, you may be asked to make day-to-day decisions for the child, but you do not have parental responsibility.
• Kinship foster care – a family member or friend becomes a child’s official foster carer. You must be assessed and approved before the child comes to live with you. The child is considered ‘looked after’ by the local authority, which shares parental responsibility with the child’s parents.
• Special Guardianship Orders (SGO) – a legal order given by a family court. When you become a Special Guardian, the child will live with you permanently until they are 18 years old. Special Guardians share parental responsibility with the child’s parents but can make nearly all major decisions about the child without asking for their permission.
• Adoption – is not appropriate or recommended for most kinship carers. When you adopt a child, the link between the child and their birth parents is legally and permanently broken – it changes family arrangements forever. As an adopter, you gain complete parental responsibility for the child.

Who Might Be a Kinship Carer

Kinship carers can include:

• a close relative of the child
• a close relative of the child’s maternal or paternal sibling
• someone who was formerly the child’s step-parent or in a cohabiting relationship with the child’s parent
• a close friend of the child, or of the child’s parent(s)
• a close friend of the child’s close relative
• someone with a prior connection to the child who does not fall within one of the categories above, for example a teacher, youth worker, childminder or former foster carer

Are you a Kinship Carer?

Support for Kinship families

• Family Help plays an important role in ensuring that children and young people who are being cared for by family or close friends receive the support and stability they need. Family Help offers support by prioritising those who are kinship carers for resources such as Family Group Conferencing and practical parenting support via evidence-based parenting interventions.
• Universal Support – information about all local community services and local Family Hubs can be found here on the Family Toolbox

Support groups provide a safe space to share experiences, access practical advice, and chat with others who understand your journey. These groups reduce isolation, boost confidence, and offer emotional support.

• SGO Monthly Drop-In sessions take place on the last Friday of every month at Serpentine Church, 100 Liscard Road, Wallasey, CH44 0AA from 10am to 12pm. Join them for a coffee and an opportunity to learn more about our SGO team, meet other carers and discuss any topics you would like to raise.
• Explore other support using the Family Toolbox website or by getting in touch with the team here

Training and Development

Kinship carers often take on their role unexpectedly and may face emotional and practical challenges. Training and development provides you with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to navigate these challenges.

• Kinship carers may be able to sign up for courses with Wirral Children Safeguarding Partnership. Email wcsptraining@wirral.gov.uk to check eligibilty.

• Family Hubs also offer a range of parenting services and programmes which can support Kinship Carers navigating parental challenges.

• Join Kinship, a charity that helps kinship carers with training, like how to work with local councils, or help children and young people with their feelings. Visit kinship.org.uk for more info.

• If the child or young person you care for has a social worker, ask about other training by emailing fosteringadmin@wirral.gov.uk.

Education

Children in kinship care arrangements may be eligible for additional educational funding through Pupil Premium Plus. To ensure your child receives the support they’re entitled to, it’s important to let their school or education setting know if they are currently – or have previously been – in a kinship care arrangement. This includes:

• Fostering
• Child Arrangement Orders
• Special Guardianship Orders
• Private Fostering

Support is available from Wirral Virtual School, they offer guidance and information to help you navigate the education system and advocate for your child’s needs. This support is also available to kinship families with a Special Guardianship Order or Child Arrangement Order, even if the child has not been in local authority care.

Wirral Virtual School also offer free training sessions covering a range of topics such as trauma, SEN and navigating transitions. Places are limited, so families are encouraged to book early.

For further information contact the virtual school by emailing: wirralvirtualschool@wirral.gov.uk

Housing

Kinship Carers have the same right to housing priority status as foster carers within the Property Pool Plus scheme. Kinship Carers can access the same level of support and priority when applying for social housing. This ensures your family is not disadvantaged when seeking suitable accommodation.

Legal

Kinship carers often face legal challenges when stepping in to care for a child. If you need support to understand your rights and responsibilities there are several charities who offer free or low cost legal support, these include:

Helping families Helping cildren – Family Rights Group

Coram Children’s Legal Centre – Home

Grandparents Legal Centre – Specialists in advising about the steps grandparents need to take to try and resolve certain difficult issues.

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