Valuing the social work role with kinship children and their families
I worked in a local authority kinship care team for 14 years, before joining CoramBAAF in 2022. I was proud of the work we did as a team, knowing our passion and commitment to ensuring children could live with their family network, if it was no longer safe for them to live with their parents. I often felt humbled by the sacrifices made by kinship carers and motivated by seeing the children feeling safe and cared for by someone who already knew and loved them, at a time in their life when they were often fearful, angry, confused or grieving.
We welcome the Government’s commitments and policy initiatives aimed at improving the support available for kinship children and their families, and we particularly welcome the requirement for local authorities to publish a kinship local offer. CoramBAAF is establishing a community of practice to support those leading on their local offers to help our members make the most of this opportunity for kinship families. Many agencies will welcome the opportunity to think creatively and work collaboratively to co-produce a local offer, often trying to do more with no additional resources or trying to use those existing resources differently.
We know not all kinship families wish to receive their support from local authorities, perhaps having had a poor experience previously, or feeling that their cultural or religious needs are not met by the local authority. Sadly, some kinship carers will have lost trust in their local authority and this can make the relationship with social workers more challenging going forward. But the role of a social worker with kinship children and their families is essential for many and needs to be defined and amplified in local offers. We hope CoramBAAF’s Kinship Care Assessment (Form K) will improve the assessment experience for kinship carers and encourage a relationship-based and reflective process that enables timely and robust decision-making for children. Form K is incomplete without a support plan, and we hope this means kinship carers will feel more confident that their family’s support needs will be met.
Government funding to the charity Kinship means all kinship carers – regardless of a child’s legal status – are eligible for universal training and advice. This is a significant improvement. However, many kinship families will still need the local authority and social workers in their lives, perhaps to write a court report if a private law order is being sought, to write a child in need plan or review and update a support plan, to complete the assessment needed for an application to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund, to inform decision-making about short breaks or voluntary accommodation when the kinship arrangement is in crisis, or to work in partnership when there are safeguarding concerns about a kinship child. It is therefore in the best interests of children and their kinship carers for all parts of the
professional system around them to be part of building trust between kinship families and local authorities. Social work with kinship families often happens at times of crisis, in stressful and anxiety-provoking circumstances, in court-driven short timescales and, in a resource-poor context. And it is not acceptable for kinship families to experience discriminatory or poor practice. But it is essential that we also value the social work role and the social work interventions with kinship families as opportunities for change.
The social worker and kinship academic Joan Hunt undertook a review of over 20 years of kinship research and states: ‘There is no consensus in the research as to how kinship carers regard the involvement of children’s services’. During my time in kinship social work practice, I’ve heard from countless kinship carers about their positive experiences with social workers - their reliance on them to help navigate court processes, their relief at being seen and understood, their thanks for compassion and kindness, and their readiness to engage in other sources of support and work with other professionals with a social worker at their side. As a result of social work support, I’ve also seen children’s emotional needs being better met, children maintaining relationships with people important to them when those relationships had become strained, children’s identity needs being prioritised, and children being safer when there were safeguarding concerns.
It is essential therefore that Government policy values social work with kinship families. It is essential that kinship local offers articulate and define what social workers can do. It is essential that social workers embed good practice in all aspects of their work with kinship families. And it is essential that all professionals work together to enable trust to be built to ensure children have the strongest network of support around them to ensure they can thrive.
As an organisation supporting social work practice with kinship families, we run regular Kinship Care Practice Forums for our members to bring together practitioners and managers. To support the development of kinship local offers, we are growing a community of practice to encourage sharing of ideas and exchanges of information to support those leading on their local offers. To register your interest, email ann.horne@corambaaf.org.uk and clare.seth@corambaaf.org.uk.
Ann Horne, Kinship Consultant, CoramBAAF.