Valerie O'Brien

The Benefits and Challenges of Kinship Care

The outcomes for children in kinship care are generally seen as positive in terms of identity formation, stability of placement, behavioural and mental health outcomes, enabling siblings to live together and child protection. However, there is some disquiet about the length of time children stay with relatives; agencies are not sure about how best to position themselves in relation to the families, or how best to conduct home studies and license relative carers. There is evidence that relatives receive both less support and supervision from agencies than do traditional foster parents. This paper examines the benefits and challenges of relative care, whilst identifying current research limitations, and focuses on the gaps in respect to the intersection between research policy and practice. Through this examination, considerations are given to such issues as: What service delivery models are needed to optimise potential benefits through aligning law, policy and practice guidance? How, and to what extent, should relative care be financed? Where does relative care fit with the intersection of permanency adoption and guardianship? The ambiguity that exists towards this care option needs exploration, as does the question of how a workers own “family experiences and values” may influence, or be influenced in, the course of the relative-care work.