Kinship care a brief practice guide

Kinship-care is a generic term which covers a range of circumstances and Court orders, but essentially involves the care of children by family members or friends in formal and informal care arrangements. Kinship-care has increased over the last decade (Wijedasa, 2015) and is seen as a cost effective option when compared to residential or stranger-based foster care (Aziz et al., 2012). It has been argued kinship-care placements are often more successful for children in securing identity and stability than non-related foster care arrangements (Hawkins, 2013; Winokur et al., 2015). In the UK, it has been estimated there are approximately 173,000 children being cared for in a kinship arrangement.