Agenda item

To share a summary of the national developments of the provision of support and services to kinship carers and children in kinship arrangements, and provide an update on progress with publishing the Brent Kinship Local Offer, and future areas for development.

The Chair invited some of Brent’s kinship carers to the meeting, who had been invited to speak about their experience of kinship care in Brent. They asked the carers to feed back to the Committee how they had found kinship caring in Brent, what support they received and whether there was anything they would like to see to further support them in their care journeys.

One couple explained the circumstances that led to them coming to care for their four grandchildren, the first of whom had come into their care at 10 months old and the second of which had come into their care from birth. When the younger grandchild had turned one, their daughter had become pregnant again, and so The Kinship Care Team had asked whether the couple would take on the third child. The couple had agreed, but highlighted they already had two children under 3 years old, so it had been a difficult decision, particularly as the process needed to be done quickly within 8 weeks. It had then been discovered that their daughter was pregnant with twins, so the couple had agreed to take them on provided they received support with whatever they needed to ensure the twins were not separated. The children were now 14, 12 and 10. From the beginning, the couple had received good support from the Council and had a good Social Care Team. They did have a high turnover of Supervising Social Workers, so when they received their third Social Worker they had not wanted to engage unless they committed to staying with them long term. The third Social Worker had stayed long term and had always remained in communication with the family and checked how they were. As an area for improvement, the couple felt that communication between one Social Worker leaving and the new Social Worker starting needed to be stronger, as it would take a month or so to bring new Social Worker up to date with what was going on, leading to a lot of repeated stories.

Another kinship carer had taken on a child she had known from a baby due to the baby’s mother experiencing mental health issues. The child had been a sibling, but she had been honest with the kinship service that she had some health issues and was of an age where she did not feel able to care for both children. Despite this, she had worked hard to enable the children to remain in contact with each other and she was pleased with how things were going. She felt she had received a lot of support in caring for the child. The carer was considering the SGO route, but had concerns about losing the support she was currently getting from the service. Kelli Eboji (Head of LAC and Permanency, Brent Council) reassured her that the service would work with her to address her concerns and help her decide whether it was the right route for her.

A third kinship carer looked after 2 children. She had been caring for her eldest granddaughter for seven years, and her second grandchild had come to her during covid. She explained that the first year of caring had been stressful, but taking on a second child had been easier thanks to her experience. She had received a lot of support and help from her social workers, but highlighted the intense process she had to go through to become a carer. She explained the process was quite intrusive and looked into all the details of her life, but acknowledged this was understandable and she did not take it personally. Other carers present agreed that it was an intrusive process but was about being honest and prepared and understanding that Social Workers were there to help and support the carers and protect the child. They added that the service had helped them to understand their network and put them at ease throughout the process.

The Committee asked if there was a network of other kinship carers that could provide support. The carers present explained there was a kinship meeting once a month, but they were not local, and highlighted the importance of speaking with other carers to ask about their experiences.

The Chair thanked the kinship carers for sharing their stories and invited officers to outline the report, which provided an overview of the national developments relating to the provision of services and support for kinship carers in England and Wales. In introducing the item, she highlighted the National Kinship Care Strategy from central government, which was the first strategy on kinship care from a UK government.

Kelli Eboji (Head of LAC and Permanency, Brent Council) then outlined the report, explaining that the government had asked local authorities to put a Kinship Local Offer in place. The offer presented to the Committee had built on the offer already in place in Brent, but had some new elements following reflection on the new guidance and how Brent’s offer aligned with that. An action plan had been developed that focused on the areas needing further development or where there were gaps in service. A series of consultations was being launched with kinship carers in February 2025 through an informal coffee mornings to talk to each other about the offer, as the recent kinship coffee morning had proved very successful. The service was also reviewing the information pack provided to kinship carers going through assessment to ensure it was robust and kinship carers were aware of the services available to them, as well as updating the website to include those universal services. There would be work undertaken on special guardianship support plans, recognising the anxieties raised by kinship carers about becoming a special guardian. Officers were also looking at extending the Brent fostering training offer to all kinship carers and was looking to further develop kinship social workers, for which there was a large turnover. She concluded by highlighting this was the first time there had been a single definition of kinship care, which had been helpful in designing the local offer.

The Chair thanked officers for the updates and then invited comments and questions from Committee members with the following raised:

The Committee were pleased that kinship carers were being recognised and tailored support put in place. Nigel Chapman (Corporate Director Children, Young People and Schools, Brent Council) added that Brent Council had always ensured that when a child was in a kinship placement there was no difference in the support provided financially, and the Council was committed to continuing that. Brent had a higher number of children living with their families compared to other local authorities as it was recognised that children needed to be with family, and it was important to ensure carers had support to provide that care. As such, he felt that Brent Council had been leaders in kinship support when it created its own Specialist Kinship Team in 2007.

The kinship carers present proposed an ambassador’s programme, using willing kinship carers, where other kinship carers could contact experienced ambassadors when they had questions or anxieties about kinship care. It was agreed this idea would be discussed with other carers at the upcoming coffee morning.

RESOLVED:

i)               To note the content of the report.