National Minimum Standards for Fostering: Implications for kinship foster care in England
| Clare Seth
This Practice Note considers the National Minimum Standards (NMS) within the context of kinship foster care and how this differs from mainstream foster care. It provides practitioners and panel members with reflections about the interpretation of NMS for kinship foster carers, alongside practice points to ensure that they are supported to meet the NMS within the caring relationship they have for a specific child/ren. It considers the areas most commonly perceived as challenges if trying to evidence how a kinship foster carer meets the NMS, and also the support that could be provided. CoramBAAF’s Form K – Support Plan, which is an integral part of Form K assessment, clearly sets out the support needs of a kinship carer and can be used at the point of annual review to update and highlight additional support needs.
