Learning from Research: Bringing up your Brothers and Sisters - Learning from Sibling Kinship Carers

THEME

Sibling carers have come to kinship care through many different routes, but often face the same hurdles when looking for help and recognition. This session will reflect on what some of these barriers might be, and how social care and universal services can work to include these families. Areas of need raised by families include – financial help, support for getting back into education, bereavement counselling and trauma informed services that work with carers and younger siblings, appropriate advice and legal services – and universally more recognition by social services, schools, medical services, peers and society more broadly of the roles that they are performing. 

Practitioners have also highlighted the need to advocate for siblings as potential carers because they are often not considered. Some of the reasons given included concerns that siblings may not be able to separate their own experiences from those of their younger brother or sister, that they may not have had the experience of being a parent or being parenting sufficiently, or that they would struggle to manage boundaries and appropriate contact arrangements with parents. This was echoed by some sibling carers who highlighted the importance of having a practitioner who believed in them and supported them to become a kinship carer.

The session will encourage participants to reflect on their own practice, and how sibling relationships can be strengthened and supported throughout work with children and families.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

The session is aimed at social workers, managers, panel members, other professionals, researchers, foster and kinship carers as well as special guardians and adopters. 

For social workers, reflection on this session may contribute to your continuing professional development (CPD).

PRESENTER

Lorna Stabler has been a Research Associate at CASCADE, Cardiff University for five years where she has worked on and led a number of projects within the field of children’s social care. Her research focuses on relationships that are important to children and young people who have involvement with children’s services, and how those relationships can best be supported and strengthened. She is also an ESRC funded PhD student at DECIPHer, Cardiff University. Her PhD research focuses on the needs of families where an older brother or sister is caring full time for their younger brother or sister as a kinship carer.

FEES

Members: FREE (don't forget to log in to your account to receive your discount)
Non-members: £20+VAT.

CONTACT

Telephone 020 7520 7520/0310

Email events@corambaaf.org.uk

MEMBERS BOOK HERE