EU Kinship Carers Project

Family and friends carers are often deeply affected personally by the events which have led to the need for a child to live away from his or her parents.  They may for example be dealing with the death of their own child or a parent, a brother’s severe mental health deterioration or a sister’s drug addiction, at the same time as they are being assessed as foster carers.  In the case of other potential foster carers, such events would be likely to make an assessment inappropriate until the applicants had been given time to come to terms with the issues, whereas with family and friends carers it may be the event itself which gives rise to the application, requiring particular sensitivity on the part of the social worker and the fostering panel.

So says a new draft piece of guidance for local authorities in England that the government in London are consulting on.

They say:

The draft statutory guidance for family and friends care aims to ensure that children and young people who are living with relatives or friends receive the support that they and their carers need to safeguard and promote their welfare. In particular, it sets out a requirement on local authorities to develop equitable and transparent policies for delivering effective services to those children, young people and their carers across the range of legal arrangements which underpin family and friends care.

The documents can be downloaded here and responses need to be with the Department by 18 June.