About the seminar

The upward trend in kinship caring is prompted in large part by increasing numbers of parents with significant drug or alcohol problems; an estimated 1.3m children have parents who misuse drugs or alcohol, and substance misuse is present in the home life of approximately 25% of children on child protection registers. There has also been a move by child protection policy makers towards the view that children are probably better off with people to whom they are related or who are family friends.

Statistics on the number of children cared for by relatives or friends are inaccurate because of the informal and short term nature of many of the arrangements. However, there are estimates of approximately 300,000 children in the UK living with kinship carers, although only just over 7000 of these are in formal foster arrangements.

Grandparents are the most common kinship carers, with an estimated 200,000 having their grandchildren living with them. This can flag up risk factors for social workers relating to the age and health of the grandparents. Children in kinship care display similar behavioural patterns to those in other care arrangements, which includes above average behavioural difficulties.

Nevertheless, the evidence suggests that children themselves would prefer to remain with a family member or close friend. Particularly for children from Ethnic Minorities, kinship care often ensures cultural continuity. The government, in Care Matters: Time for Change, signalled support for kinship care as a means of promoting resilience, and recently endorsed the wider use of Family Group Conferences. These factors mean that kinship care is set to expand.

To ensure that the expansion of kinship care is successful, service providers need to understand the needs of kinship carers, re-consider the assessment and pre-assessment processes, and offer longer term and better support. These issues form the main focus of this seminar, with practical examples of successful support services and planning procedures.

Delegates will be encouraged to participate and to contribute examples from their own professional experience.

• Children and young people’s social workers child protection and hidden harm professionals
• Organisations which offer support to kinship carer
• Organisations concerned with fostering and adoption
• Children’s Guardians and CAFCAS
• Substance misuse professionals who work with families
• Specialist substance misuse and domestic violence midwives
• Sure Start/Children’s Centres
• Domestic violence services
• Supporting People services
• Specialist services for children with behavioural problems
• School psychology services and CAMHS
• Government departments, regional government and agencies concerned with policy in the area of child protection, parenting and families