EU Kinship Carers Project

Kinship carers in the EU too often face stigma and worry rather than respect and support is the key finding of a report from the EU Kinship Carers Project.

The project, partly funded by the European Union in the framework of the Public Health Programme, has worked with grandparents and other family members looking after children because of the drug problems of the parents across 7 European countries and in a report published today detail the key findings from the work to date.

Andrew Brown Director of Programmes at Mentor UK, said:

The kinship carers we have met and worked with take on a critical responsibility at a time that the children’s parents are unable to do so.  It is critical that the protection that they offer isn’t achieved at their expense.

Too often kinship carers feel stigmatised in their role rather than celebrated and respected.

Our project has piloted a range of local resources many of which have had a positive impact on carers, but it will be systemic responses by member states that will be critical to meeting the needs of carers, and thus protecting the children in their care.

One carer said:

I am desperate for my granddaughter to grow up and become a beautiful, bright young woman with so many opportunities at her fingertips; she deserves it following the life she has had so far.

The EU Kinship Carers Project has been working in Belgium, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, Sweden, Romania and the UK and has been coordinated by Mentor UK. The project is looking at approaches to protect children of drug addicted parents in kinship care placements from developing drug problems in later life.

Local resources that have been developed and piloted with carers and professionals include; a guide for carers entering the system, a picture story book to help explain drug addiction to young children, a course to develop the parenting skills of carers, and training for professionals.

Download the paper here.

Key Findings

Amongst the key findings from the project are:

The Needs of Carers

• Kinship carers’ needs, and those of the children in their care, are often unmet.
• The stigma carers feel can be very high and this can be exacerbated by the professionals that work with them.
• Kinship carers can be extremely worried about the power of the state to remove children in their care.
• Working with kinship carers to develop resources aimed at them improves the quality of the resource.
• Carers value resources that are aimed at them and the children in their care.
• Resources that are aimed at increasing parenting skills can be extremely valuable, but need to be marketed in ways that don’t undermine carers’ perceptions of their existing competence.

Meeting the Needs

• Working with kinship carers to develop resources aimed at them improves the quality of the resource.
• Carers value resources that are aimed at them and the children in their care.
• Resources that are aimed at increasing parenting skills can be extremely valuable, but need to be marketed in ways that don’t undermine carers’ perceptions of their existing competence.

Recommendations

The report makes the following recommendations:

• The core needs of carers and the children in their care – which may include financial, material, emotional and physical health issues – must be met by a systemic response by member states.
• Social care systems should be reassured that kinship care appears to have important protective factors for the children in these placements – fewer placement breakdowns, less mental health problems and fewer drug misuse problems.
• These benefits should not be at the cost of kinship carer’s well-being and so social care responses should look to build partnerships with carers, facilitate chances for them to support each other, and offer appropriate and timely skills development opportunities.
• The political profile of kinship care is uneven across the countries that took part in this project.  However, the evidence we were able to uncover suggests that these placements are being increasingly examined by social care professionals.  We recommend that national and local authorities give increased attention to meeting the needs of kinship carers.
• Agencies beyond social care (for example schools, family doctors, drug services, etc.) should consider the needs of the whole family including kinship carers when developing plans for parents with addictions.
• Resources, such as the smaller ones developed by this project, can have a positive impact on carer’s self-image, feelings of isolation, and skills.
• Developing resources that allow kinship carers to appreciate that they face many of the same issues as other parents may be beneficial.

Download the paper here.