Abstract
Kinship care is acknowledged in global guidance as the first form of care that should be explored for children outside of parental care. It is widely used across the world. However, it is poorly supported in many countries. A global review of the literature, key informant interviews and consultations with 411 kinship carers and children in kinship care provide lessons learnt on how to effectively support kinship care. Principles of good practice include enabling the active participation of children and caregivers, taking a kin-first approach, building on the strengths in kinship care families and acknowledging diversity within kinship care. Effective support to kinship care requires an enabling environment, which includes a strong evidence base, policies, strategies and guidance on kinship care, properly financed services across sectors and supportive social norms. In some instances, it is appropriate to formalise kinship care either through registering these arrangements or through the involvement of courts or social services in arranging and monitoring placements. However, this formalisation is neither necessary nor advisable in all instances, and support should never be contingent on formalisation. Kinship care families need access to a range of services and support, including child protection and social services, information about available services, social protection, support accessing health care and education and caregiving supports.
Keywords
Introduction
Children who cannot be looked after by their parents often live with relatives or friends of the family. This care is known as kinship care. Kinship care is acknowledged in global guidance as the first form of care that should be explored for children outside of parental care (UN General Assembly, 2010). It is widely used across the world (Delap & Mann, 2019). However, it is poorly supported in many countries (Delap & Mann, 2019). This article explains why supporting kinship care is so important and provides principles of good practice and lessons learnt from across the world. The article is based on global inter-agency guidance on kinship care developed by the network Family for Every Child and endorsed by 39 agencies (Delap et al., 2024).
Methods
This article draws on:
A review of the global literature, including research papers and reports and programme documents, key informant interviews with 28 programme managers across 23 countries, virtual workshops involving 11 practitioner and programme managers, face-to-face workshops in four countries (Liberia, Egypt, Brazil and Zimbabwe) involving 30 policymakers and practitioners, consultations with 215 kinship carers and 196 children in children in kinship care in seven countries (Brazil, Egypt, India, Liberia, Tanzania, United Kingdom and Zimbabwe) and inputs and validation from a drafting committee of 23 agencies working on kinship care.
Key Findings
Types of Kinship Care
The term kinship care encompasses a variety of caring arrangements. It includes care by a range of relatives or by friends of the family. Placements may be short or long term and informal or formal in nature. The challenges and benefits of kinship care vary by type of care, and recognising this is essential for developing appropriate services (Delap & Mann, 2019).
Why Support Kinship Care?
Supporting kinship care is important for the following reasons:
Both the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 1989) and the guidelines for the alternative care of children (UN General Assembly, 2010) recognise the value of kinship care. Kinship care is often children’s preferred form of care, and many children in kinship care are loved and well cared for (Delap & Mann, 2019; O’Kane, 2015). Compared to other forms of alternative care, kinship care leads to better outcomes for children and offers greater continuity, stability, sense of identity and belonging and social networks (Hunt, 2020; Kiraly & Humphreys, 2017). Kinship care is often culturally acceptable, making it easier to support than some other forms of care (Delap & Mann, 2019). Kinship care is cost-effective compared to residential or foster care (Generations United, 2015; Kinship, 2023). ‘Grandmothers will always look for food for you and share it equally. They will allow you to rest when you are tired. Grandmothers will try and care for you as they would their own children’. (Child in kinship care, Malawi cited in Mann, 2004, p. 4)
Principles of Good Practice in Supporting Kinship Care
Evidence from the research suggests the following principles of good practice in relation to kinship care:
Base all responses to kinship care on a contextual understanding of kinship care; there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Rates of kinship care, cultural norms around kinship care and reasons for entry into kinship care vary greatly by context, and support to kinship care must be adjusted accordingly. Enable the active participation of children in kinship care, young people who have grown up in kinship care, parents and kinship carers in the design and delivery of interventions on kinship care. Take a kin-first, best interests focused approach. This means that kinship care is always considered first when children cannot be cared for by their parents and used where possible, provided it is in the best interests of the child. Recognise and build on the strengths in kinship care families; do not just focus on the problems they have. Recognise that groups that are discriminated against are often over-represented in kinship care or may require particular support. This includes children with disabilities and children from indigenous communities. Acknowledge the fundamental differences between kinship and parental or foster care, but do not treat kinship care arrangements as somehow abnormal.
Creating an Enabling Environment for Kinship Care
The research indicates that it is essential to create an environment where necessary services and support can be offered to kinship care families, which includes the following:
Pathways to Services and Support and the Formalisation of Kinship Care
The research indicates that there are two main ways in which kinship care ceases to be an informal arrangement made within families and becomes a more formal arrangement involving the courts or social service workers.
An assessment by social service workers to determine the suitability of kinship care arrangements, often involving the courts, and followed by monitoring and support by social service workers. In some countries, this includes kinship carers becoming kinship foster carers, and in many high-income contexts, there are range of formal kinship care arrangements. Legal registration of kinship care arrangements that recognises the rights and responsibilities of kinship carers but does not involve social work or court assessments, endorsement or ongoing engagement.
Social service workers do not automatically need to assess, monitor or support all kinship care arrangements. Social work intervention in kinship care families should be determined by the same criteria, which guide social work involvement in any family. These vary by context but may include, for example, children having complex needs that require intensive and coordinated support or/and being at risk of harm. Families may also request to have more social service worker involvement and support.
Although there are many benefits to social work engagement, the overuse of social work intervention in kinship care can bring difficulties. The involvement of social service workers in family life may be resisted by families who mistrust social services or the state (Blacklock et al., 2018; Hunt, 2020). Social work engagement with the family could prevent potential kinship carers from coming forward to care for the child (Blacklock et al., 2018). Requirements that social service workers regularly monitor all kinship care families can also overwhelm child protection systems (Proudlock, 2020).
Legal registration of kinship care is valuable for providing clarity in terms of who is responsible for children’s care, allowing carers to make key decisions about the child’s life. Although there are many advantages to this recognition, it can also be resisted by kinship carers if they are mistrustful of the state.
Overall, support should always be made available to kinship carers based on their needs, regardless of legal recognition or social services intervention.
Services and Support for Kinship Care
The research indicates that a package of services and support must be made available to kinship carers to meet their complex needs. This support includes the following:
Child protection and case management services, with approaches and tools adjusted to reflect the needs of kinship care families, which are often different from parental or foster care households (The Annie E Casey Foundation, 2013). Supporting better informal decision making about kinship care as in many countries, it is more common for decisions on kinship care to be made informally, without the involvement of courts of social workers (Delap & Mann, 2019). Providing information about services and support as well as legal advice (Hunt, 2020). Addressing poverty, as kinship care families are poorer than other households (Delap & Mann, 2019; Hunt, 2020). Kinship care families should have access to existing social protection schemes or have programmes designed specifically for them. Mental health services, as kinship care is often associated with bereavement, trauma and loss (Agarwal, 2017; Shang & Fisher, 2014; Zhao et al., 2018). ‘I miss my parents very much. Especially in these days when the school just started, it feels like everything I see reminds me of the time I spent with them. Then I sometimes cry a little’. (11-year-old girl living with her aunt as her parents have migrated for work, China cited in Zhao et al., 2018, p. 5)
Efforts to meet physical health care needs as both children in kinship care and their carers are more likely to suffer from physical health problems than children in parental care or parents (Beal & Greiner, 2015; Delap & Mann, 2019). Children and carers often face barriers to health care as a result of factors such as lack of clarity over parental responsibility or not being targeted by health care programmes (Beal & Greiner, 2015; Carucci, 2017).
Strategies to improve educational outcomes for children in kinship care, such as training teachers to be aware of the challenges faced by kinship carers and ensuring kinship carers have access to information about school systems (Hunt, 2020).
Supports to build the capacity of caregivers in child rearing, through building their family and community support networks, respite care, peer support groups or carer-led ‘parenting’ programmes.
Help navigating complex family dynamics, such as the relationship between children in kinship care and their parents and the other children in the household.
Conclusions
Kinship care makes a crucial contribution to the well-being, development and survival of millions of children around the world. Kinship care also has wide community support in most (possibly all) cultures. Kinship care should be the first option that is explored when children cannot be cared for by their parents.
Responses to kinship care must vary by context. Children in kinship care, young people who have grown up in kinship care, parents and kinship carers know best about their needs and have much to contribute to meeting these needs.
Some kinship care arrangements need to be regulated by social services and/or registered to clarify parental responsibilities. However, this formalisation is not always necessary. Families should have a say in determining the type of kinship care which best meets their needs. Formalisation of any kind should never be a prerequisite for support.
Kinship care families have multifaceted support needs. Chronic poverty lies at the core of many of the problems that they face. Challenges caused by stress and mental health issues should not be underestimated. Families also need access to information, education, health care services and caregiving supports. Prioritising and effectively supporting kinship care necessitates a family-focused, strengths-based reorientation of systems of care. It is hoped that this will be to the benefit of all children whose parents are unable to care for them.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
