Making Kinship Care Work

Abstract

Policy and practice developments need to be based on firm evidence about how well kinship care (that is, placements with relatives or friends) works and the services required to maintain these placements. The research reported by Elaine Farmer was based on case file reviews of 270 children, half in kin placements and half in non-kin foster care, and on interviews with a subsample of 32 kin carers, social workers, children and parents. The study found that while the children were remarkably similar in the two kinds of placement, kin carers, in contrast, were significantly more disadvantaged than stranger foster carers. They also faced more hostility from birth parents during contact. The children's outcomes in terms of placement quality and disruption in the two settings were also very similar. However, because kin carers persisted with very challenging children and yet received fewer services than stranger foster carers, they were more often under strain. This article compares the characteristics of carers and children in the two kinds of placement and examines the impact of the children on the kin carers and the strains they experienced. It also considers the services received and needed by kin carers and children. The implications for policy and practice are examined.

Strengthening kinship families: scoping the provision of respite care in Australia

“…It has been found that assuming the care of a child or young person ‘places significant burdens on carers’ (Nixon, , p. 7), and that kinship carers require ‘considerable personal and other resources in order to manage the unexpected and ongoing demands of kinship care’ (Department of Human Services, Government of Victoria ). An inverse relationship has also been found between carer stress and quality of care provided to children (Farmer ).…”

“…Consistent with international findings (Gladstone & Brown ; Nixon ; Hunt ), kinship carers in Australia are likely to be subject to a number of structural disadvantages, with regard to age, health, income and education (Boetto ). They also experience stress from their caring role, which can be exacerbated by issues arising from family relationships, and contributed to by the complex needs of the children in their care (Dunne & Kettler ; Farmer ; Boetto ). It has been found that assuming the care of a child or young person ‘places significant burdens on carers’ (Nixon, , p. 7), and that kinship carers require ‘considerable personal and other resources in order to manage the unexpected and ongoing demands of kinship care’ (Department of Human Services, Government of Victoria ).…”

“…There is international evidence, however, that related carers are less likely to be offered support and other services, such as respite, than unrelated carers, and that they are also less likely to request it (Cuddeback ; Farmer ). Kiraly () noted that lack of support to kinship carers was a consistent theme in Australian research reports and publications.…”

Parenting stress among Norwegian kinship and non-kinship foster parents

“…At the end of 2015, 17 337 children were living in foster homes in Norway, 23.6 % of those were kinship placements (Statistics Norway 2015). It is not known whether this shift in placement practice over time has resulted in lower approval standards for kinship placements, as has been the case in the UK (Farmer, 2009). In Norway increased use of kinship placements have not been followed by attention to whether or not this change in social care policy should be followed by development of new support services for foster parents.…”

“…In addition to differences in parenting stress caused by child mental health problems and parents depression it is known that kinship foster parents are less frequent users of mental health services for their children, that they receive less supervision by caseworkers and that they are given less training and resources to cope with being a foster parent (Timmer, Sedlar and Urquiza 2004). In a case file review of 270 cases in the UK, of which about half were kinship placements, Farmer (2009) found differences in level of services received by kin carers and non-kin carers. Kinship foster carers were more likely to receive low levels of services (69%) compare to unrelated foster carers (47 %).…”