Calls for Welsh Government to 'step up' on kinship carer support

There are calls for the Welsh Government to step up its support for kinship carers and the roughly 9,500 Welsh children who rely on them.

Kinship is an alternative to foster care which sees looked after children remain with friends or a family member, rather than being taken into the care system.

It means children who cannot live with their parents for whatever reason are still able to retain a connection with their families and limit further disruption in their lives.

Bobbie, who has been looking after her nephew for a year and a half, told ITV Wales’s Sharp End programme: “Being a kinship carer is an extraordinary task. It’s a phenomenal feeling on the one hand and it’s also a feeling of juggling something that’s quite fragile and dicey.”

She added: “I have actually had to fight for any financial support and there is no practical support.”

Bobbie is determined to give her nephew the best possible upbringing but says her role often leaves her feeling isolated.

“The future can be daunting. We are in seriously austere times. Financially I am concerned about the responsibilities that I’ve taken on and making ends meet.”

Bobbie is not alone. A report published this summer by the Kinship Charity found that 45% of Kinship carers in Wales rated the support they received from local authorities as either poor or very poor.

It also found that 14% of carers were concerned they won’t be able to continue caring for their child if the situation does not improve over the coming year, putting 1,268 children at risk of entering local authority care.

Sharon, who looks after her grandchildren, is frustrated at perceived inaction from the Welsh Government.

She said: “These children need their rights. They should have the right to be treated exactly the same as foster children.

“The carer itself would also have a carer on call, so any issues at all and you’d have help on the other end of that phone. At the moment most have nothing at all and that’s so wrong because they’re left on their own.”

She added: “There’s actually more children in kinship care than in local government care and yet they seem to forget those children in kinship care.

“I would do it regardless, I do it, I love them to bits but I’d love them [Welsh Government] to step up. They need to step up.”

Kinship care takes on many forms, including kinship foster carers, special guardians and informal carers with no legal order securing the arrangement.

This week is Kinship Care Week and the Kinship charity is raising awareness of the important roles people like Bobbie and Sharon play in the lives of children who’ve had a tough start in life.

Rhiannon Clapperton from the charity said: “A lot of kinship carers are put in very challenging situations. They’re having to choose between heating or eating. Many are going without in order to ensure their children have the essentials and things are really, really tough.

“Kinship often happens in a time or real crisis.”

Wales has a higher rate of kinship care than England and tends to occur at a higher rate in

more deprived areas. But the charity says the Welsh Government hasn’t done enough to support carers and the children they look after.

Rhiannon said: “In Wales we have a bit of a concern that the Welsh Government is not taking as many steps to support kinship families as the UK Government. Both the outgoing Conservative administration and the incoming Labour administration.”

She added: “The Welsh Government has responsibility but a lot of kinship carers are telling us they aren’t getting any central support and local authorities are really stretched, they don’t have a lot of money and carers are struggling to get support from them as well.”

The Welsh Government told Sharp End it has a guide for local authorities on the core support they should make available for Special Guardians. It has also rolled out preparation training to help them get ready for the experience and has recently invested in raising the profile of the role.

For more information on kinship care and how to get support, visit Kinship.org.uk

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