Our kinship consultants develops a range of practice notesbriefings and other resources to support our members in their work. They also support the exchange of ideas and good practice at our regular practice forums.


News and updates

Making the case for better mental health support for children in care

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Foster Care Fortnight: The power of relationships - helping children in care learn to trust and thrive

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Concern about the cuts in funding to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund

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Showcase your work at our 2025 Kinship Care Conference

CoramBAAF invites local authorities to submit examples of innovative kinship care practice for the “Pitching Good Practice” spots at this year’s Kinship Care Conference in London on 13 October 2025.

Call for practice examples

We are inviting professionals to submit their examples of kinship practice for our new ‘Pitching Good Practice’ spots taking place at this year’s conference. We will ask you to present your examples of practice in a side room at break and lunch times, giving our conference delegates the chance to network with you and ask questions about what you offer. You could display a conference poster, or demonstrate the use of tools or resources - we are open to your suggestions.

Apply now

Free member events

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Learning from Research: Supporting families living with care experienced children's challenging, violent or aggressive behaviour

27 May 2025 | 11.30am - 1pm | Zoom
The session will present insights from Al Coates' international Churchill Fellowship Report, focusing on support models and interventions for families managing children with care experience who exhibit challenging and violent behaviour, which is more common among kinship carers and adoptive parents than the general population.

Free for members

Learning from Research: Innovating practice in kinship care

26 June 2025 | 11.30am - 1pm | Zoom
Despite kinship care rising the UK policy agenda it still has a growing evidence base. This feasibility study, led by Coram’s Institute for Children, aimed to contribute to the developing the evidence base on what interventions and support can work best for kinship carers, family members and children in kinship care. The project and the evaluation were funded by Foundations, the national What Works Centre for Children & Families.

Free for members

Exploring Expertise: Learning from evidence on Parenting Through Adversity for parents of babies and children 0-10

8 July 2025 | 11.30am - 1pm | Zoom
In this session you will hear from Becky Saunders and Ian Moore who worked together on the production of the Parenting Through Adversity - Parents of babies & children 0-10 Practice Guide, based upon two underpinning systematic reviews of evidence, and from Sonia Beard in our policy team who will speak to what this evidence means in relation to the policy that is shaping Children's Social Care.

Free for members

Kinship Care Assessment (Form K) England

CoramBAAF is excited to publish the new Kinship Care Assessment (Form K) England. The change in name from 'Form C' to 'Form K' reflects the national policy reform agenda and a growing awareness of the complexity and importance of kinship care.

The new assessment amplifies the voice of the child, and the relationship between the child and the prospective kinship carer. It draws out strengths and highlights support needs. It enables a relationship-based and reflective assessment process that gathers and analyses the information required to inform decisions about a child’s future care. 

The form can be used for both approval of kinship foster carers and recommendations for special guardianship orders; it is compliant with relevant law, regulations and statutory guidance. It includes an integral support plan and detailed guidance.

From Form C to Form K: the new standard for assessment

To align with the national policy reform agenda and address the complexity and importance of kinship care, we have collaborated with carers, practitioners, managers and parents to review Form C resulting in the creation of Form K to enable comprehensive assessments of prospective kinship carers.

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Private Fostering 

Private fostering is a private arrangement made between a parent and a responsible adult for the care of a child under the age of 16 (under 18 if disabled). The person who will be looking after the child is not a parent or close relative of the child, and the arrangement is planned to last for at least 28 days. 

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Start raising awareness today

Private foster carers may be from the extended family such as a cousin or great aunt. A private foster carer may be a friend of the family, the parent of a friend of the child, or someone previously unknown to the child’s family who is willing to privately foster the child.

Find out more

Working with Ukrainian children and families

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Top ten tips for social workers working with Ukrainian children

For those wanting a summary about how they can support Ukrainian children in kinship care families read our top ten tips!

This is a condensed version of our 'Frequently Asked Questions' resource,- we have included the headlines and key points from our longer document to offer a shorter and accessible version as an introduction to the topic.

Updated version coming soon
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Supporting kinship carers of Ukrainian refugee children (2024)

Read the latest version of our FAQs which has been updated to reflect the changes to visa schemes. We have produced a set of comprehensive FAQs to help professionals navigate the tricky interface between social care and immigration law.

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Incorporating what matters to children into practice with kinship care

We are delighted to be able to publish Dr Paul Shuttleworth's latest work, ‘Incorporating what matters to children into practice with kinship care: Listen, Understand, Do’.

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Listen, Understand, Do

A practical guide to listening to children living in kinship families to help ensure that their voices and views are heard and acted upon.The guide is accompanied by a short video that powerfully illustrates the importance of listening to children.

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Advice

Information for kinship carers

Wherever possible children who cannot live with their birth parents should be looked after by family members, friends of the family or someone they know well. There are different legal frameworks for this care. Similarly, if you are a step-parent and you want to formalise your relationship to your stepchild, several options are available to you to give the child security.

Browse our advice and information

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Placing a child abroad?

The Outbound Permanence Service provides specialist information & advice on the legal, assessment and support options available in the overseas country.

Get advice

Get involved

Our multidisciplinary groups and provide a platform to our members so we can advocate on their behalf to Government, and ensure that their voices are heard in the development of legislation, policy and practice.

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Kinship Care Practice Forum

Discuss developing areas of policy and share views at our Kinship Care Practice Forum.

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Private Fostering Practice Forum

Discuss developing policy and practice dilemmas in Private Fostering arrangements.

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