New report from the National Kinship Care Ambassador to inform development of kinship local offers
Kinship Ambassador Jahnine Davis has published a comprehensive insight report today - Improving the kinship local offer and approach to kinship care . Drawing on her engagement with key stakeholders since being in post, she sets out “characteristics of promising practice and the considerations needed to design kinship support that is coherent and deliverable”. The report is a much-needed reflection on the complexities of the kinship care system, and explores some of the inherent tensions when we continue to think about kinship care as part of the fostering and adoption paradigm. She says:”
“kinship care is not solely a decision about where a child should live, it is a whole-family transition that requires a coordinated, whole-system support”
There is welcome focus on informal kinship carers, the needs of Black and minoritised carers, the need for the voices of children and young people to inform system reform, the impact of regulatory barriers, as well as the elements needed to ensure a local offer considers the whole think-family approach.
The ambassador also sets out her commitment to publishing national kinship standards to shape how kinship care is understood and delivered across the country. The standards will sit within the kinship statutory guidance and will set out the core values, expectations and principles that should underpin kinship local offers.
Join our kinship local offer community of practice to share ideas and think together about what the ambassador’s insights mean for the continuing work on kinship support in your areas.