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5. Family and friend carers - "Kinship Carers"
5.1 While there are many important similarities between the issues facing foster carers and kinship carers and those facing children and young people in their care, there are some important differences. This section sets out many of the issues and invites views on how these can be addressed.
5.2 Kinship carers are often reported to believe that they are treated as a second rate alternative to foster care provision and can feel abandoned by agencies once they have taken children into their care.
5.3 We want to ensure that kinship carers feel valued and that they receive the full range of necessary support and resources to care for the children or young people in their care. For many children and young people, living with family or friends will be their first choice of placement, if they have to leave their parents. We want to remove any unnecessary barriers that may prevent achieving this choice for children and young people and we want to identify how we can put in place those safeguards that are essential for such placements together with a support service for kinship carers that will give the placement the best chance of succeeding.
The statutory position of kinship carers
5.4 There is no statutory definition of kinship carers. In this paper, kinship care refers to the main full-time care arrangement provided by a member of the child's extended family or wider network of friends and where the child is looked after or would otherwise be looked after, if a kinship carer were not able to provide the care arrangement. Their legal position is centred around the status of the child or young person. While we will invite views on this position, we do not believe that an amendment is needed to the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (the 1995 Act). This Act states that if the child or young person needs to be accommodated away from their parents, on either a voluntary or compulsory basis, they must be placed where their best interests will be served. If a relative or a friend is willing to provide a home for the child or young person and this is in their best interest, we think any unnecessary barriers can be removed to minimise the disruption to the child and young person, without further recourse to statutory intervention.
Creating a safe, stable and secure kinship care arrangement
5.5 While some decisions to move from the parents to a kinship care arrangement can be smooth and planned, there are inevitably many crisis occasions when the child or young person can no longer stay safely where they are. The local authority may then identify as a first point of call, a close family member or friend who can accommodate the child. If moving from the parents, it will aim to do this with the full co-operation of the parents.
5.6 During this stressful and uncertain time, it is imperative that the child and the potential kinship carers are clear about the process that will be followed and how their views will be taken into account. Absolute clarity is required about the child or young person's legal status; the financial and other support mechanisms that will be provided. Appropriate payments should begin immediately. Local authorities already have discretionary powers under which they can make payments to kinship carers where the children are not 'looked after' in terms of s.17 of the 1995 Act, i.e. children for whom the local authority has some parental responsibility.
5.7 It is undesirable to create any false incentives to make a child subject to compulsory measures and label them "looked after". The looked after route should not be used as a means of accessing a range of non-financial support that could otherwise be unavailable. The intention of Getting it Right for Every Child is to remove this distinction between those who are looked after and those who are not; and to ensure that children's needs are identified and acted upon.
Assessment
5.8 There is an important distinction between the assessment of foster carers and of kinship carers. The attributes required to look after a wide range of foster children are not the same as those required to meet the needs of a particular child or young person. The current assessment process is designed to assess the suitability of a foster carer to look after potentially hundreds of unknown children with a range of needs during their time as a foster carer. This is not the case with kinship carers where the assessment should focus on the needs of an individual child or siblings within specific circumstances; and the ability of the kinship carer to look after them, given their specific needs.
5.9 The assessment needs to take into account the best interests of the specific children and weigh up the probable advantages of a kinship carer in relation to providing placement stability and continuity for the child against any other disadvantages that may be identified. These important requirements including whether the child will be safe within the kinship carer's home and responsibly cared for, must be appropriately assessed, regardless of why the child or young person is with the kinship carers.
Financial allowances
5.10 There is no doubt that the financial systems in place to support kinship carers are complex and can inadvertently penalise kinship carers who wish to provide a home for the child or young person. The current combination of payments under a variety of legal powers (mainly the 1995 Act); foster care allowances and the tax and benefit system does not support the efforts of kinship carers and the local authority to meet the needs of the child or young person effectively.
5.11 As part of the development of the National Fostering and Kinship Care Strategy, we have commissioned an independent survey of all the entitlements, including tax and benefits, to which kinship carers may be entitled. We want to ensure kinship carers are fully informed about their entitlements. This survey will also inform our proposals in the National Fostering and Kinship Care Strategy for any further financial support that might need to be provided.
5.12 As well as the benefits system, there is also an issue of differing approaches to dealing with kinship carers in different parts of Scotland. This is clearly a matter of concern, and local authorities have identified it as such. Partly this arises because of confusion over what legal power payments should be made under. The powers proposed in the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Bill would allow Ministers to create regulations addressing the issue of those carers who have a child placed with them under s.26(1)(a) of the 1995 Act (looked after children) or under s.70(3) of the 1995 Act (supervision requirement), and of those carers who have taken on the responsibility for a child, where the child would otherwise have become formally looked after by the local authority.
5.13 Responses are requested in relation to
- Do you consider that further changes to the law are required to support the position of kinship carers (for example, in relation to assessment and payments)?
- The consultation paper covers the following topics in terms of foster care:
- the assessment process to match a child or young person to a carer (see paragraphs 3.6-3.9)
- amendments to existing regulations (paragraph 3.27 and Annex A)
- proposals for further support measures (paragraphs 4.9-4.16)
On these issues, do you think that there are specific differences or additional points which should be considered for kinship carers? If so then please give details.
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