‘It's about the whole family’: family contact for children in kinship care

Abstract

A B S T R AC TContact with family for children in care is identified as a right under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, such contact often presents challenges because of the protective concerns that have led to care arrangements being made. The Family Links: Kinship Care and Family Contact research study explored the nature and extent of family contact in kinship care, with a particular focus on the circumstances that create positive contact and foster family relationships. Findings included evidence of a large proportion of parental contact that was negatively affecting children's wellbeing, and was sometimes unsafe. By contrast, the frequent contact that children were enjoying with their siblings and wider family was reported to be mostly positive and supportive. Kinship carers described a range of services needed to facilitate more positive parental contact and to enable children to keep contact with significant family members.

Growing up with parental substance use disorder: The struggle with complex emotions, regulation of contact, and lack of professional support

“…Our informants found this instability very demanding, and it made them worry a lot, including worries of the parent's death. This underpins former research on the complexity of the relationships between children and parents with SUD and the need for professional support to cope with it (Alexanderson & Näsman, 2017;Bath, 2015;Forrester, Holland, Williams, & Copello, 2016;Kiraly & Humphreys, 2016;McWey & Mullis, 2004;Wilson et al, 2012).…”

“…Research suggests that the content of the contact is more important than frequency and visits should take place in home-like environments, be emotionally safe and informal, and should include activities (Haight, Kagle, & Black, 2003;Kiraly & Humphreys, 2013;McWey et al, 2010). There is a need for professional support and supervision of children, parents, and foster parents in order to improve the quality of the contact (Kiraly & Humphreys, 2016).…”

Interventions to improve supervised contact visits between children in out of home care and their parents: a systematic review

“…Conversely, contact can be disruptive and prevent children developing a sense of permanence, particularly if negative attitudes between foster carers and parents are communicated to children (Morrison et al 2011). Carers highlight the negative experiences of children and young people from unreliable, disinterested or outwardly rejecting parents (Neil et al 2003;Moyers et al 2006;Kiraly & Humphreys 2014). It has been suggested that poorly planned, poor quality and unsupervised contact may even be harmful, particularly where there is a history of maltreatment (Sinclair et al 2005;Sen & Broadhurst 2011).…”

“…; Moyers et al . ; Kiraly & Humphreys ). It has been suggested that poorly planned, poor quality and unsupervised contact may even be harmful, particularly where there is a history of maltreatment (Sinclair et al .…”

Nonfamilial kinship carers—Who are they and what support do they need to nurture children?

“…Interest in this group of carers was initially piqued by our earlier survey of formal (statutory) kinship carers in Victoria, Australia (in the United Kingdom, known as “kinship foster carers”), that explored children's experiences of family contact (Kiraly & Humphreys, ). To our surprise, one fifth of the 430 respondents were not related to the children in their care.…”