Kinship Care: Collaborative
Overview
We formed the Kinship Care Collaborative in November 2020. This group aims to deliver improvements for kinship Care families across Scotland.
The group considers current policy and legislation and explores the changes that are required to drive improvement. We jointly chair this alongside Social Work Scotland.
The group has members from the public and private sphere, the third sector and those with lived experience.
Phase one
In phase one we established three priority groups to consider and develop key areas for change based on what care givers and professionals wanted to see. This led to the development of ‘change ideas’.
Phase one ended in late 2022.
Phase two
The outcomes of phase one resulted in creating working groups to implement these changes. The current priorities are on four key areas:
• guidance re-write
• assessment framework
• communications
• data collection
Each priority area is managed by a working group.
The whole collaborative meets every two months. The smaller working-groups meet more frequently.
Members
- Aberdeenshire Council
- ADES
- Adoption UK Scotland
- Advisory Group Members
- Alliance for Fostering, Kinship and Adoption (AFKA)
- CELCIS
- Children First
- Childrens Health Scotland
- CoSLA
- East Lothian Council
- Edinburgh Council
- Education Scotland
- Falkirk Council
- Fife Council
- GIRFEC – Scottish Government Policy Team
- Glasgow City Council
- Inverclyde Council
- KCASS
- Kinship Carers
- North Ayrshire Council
- Nurture Scotland
- OCSWA
- Perth and Kinross Council
- Scottish Government
- Social Work Scotland
- SOLAR
- SPSO
- The Promise Scotland
Guidance Re-Write Working Group
This group are reviewing and clarifying sections of the National Guidance on Part 13 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 so it is easier for practitioners and kinship carers to understand.
Members:
- CELCIS
- Perth and Kinross Council
- Scottish Government
- Social work Scotland
- SOLAR
Kinship Care Assessment Framework Working Group
This group are developing a national assessment framework tool to standardise practice across all Scottish local authorities. This is to ensure the standard of support offered to carers is equal across Scotland.
Members:
- Aberdeenshire Council
- East Lothian Council
- Edinburgh City Council
- Falkirk Council
- Fife Council
- Glasgow City Council
- KCASS
- North Ayrshire Council
- Perth and Kinross Council
- Scottish Government
Communications Working Group
This group are raising awareness of the work conducted by the Kinship Care Collaborative as well as raising the profile of kinship carers and kinship care within the community.
Members:
- Adoption UK Scotland
- Children’s Health Scotland
- Kinship Carers
- Nurture Scotland
- Scottish Government
Data Collection Working Group
This group is currently being set up.
Members of this group will review the data surrounding kinship care and CLAS Statistics. They are also working o nimproving data collection surrounding children, young people and families in kinship care.
Priority Groups (now concluded)
These groups concluded at the end of 2022 when phase one was complete.
Priority Group One
The group reviewed kinship care legislation and guidance to establish a clear and universal understanding of definitions and practice.
Members:
- AFKA Scotland
- CELCIS
- Perth and Kinross Council
- Scottish Government
- Social Work Scotland
Priority Group Two
The group identified current resources at national level and highlighted gaps in these resources to eliminate them.
The group also identified instances of good practice across Scotland.
Members:
- AFKA Scotland
- CELCIS
- Children 1st
- Nurture Scotland
- Scottish Government
Priority Group Three
The group were tasked with improving the consistency of service provision across Scotland and increasing awareness of kinship care within the community.
Members:
- CELCIS
- Children’s Health Scotland
- Education Scotland
- Glasgow City Council
- Scottish Government
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