NEWS - Growing up in Kinship Care

New research highlights the need for increased support for Scotland’s kinship families 

Introduction

Our researchers Dr Joanna Soraghan and Dr Robert Porter, have been analysing data to explore the experiences of children and young people who live with kinship carers in Scotland.

This is the first time researchers have brought together data from different sources to have a much clearer picture and greater understanding of the experiences and needs of ‘looked after’1 children and young people who have grown up in kinship care. By linking anonymised records from the longitudinal Looked After Children dataset with the Children’s Hearings, child protection, education and health visiting datasets, they were able to gain an overview of children’s experiences across different aspects of their lives and produce outputs including a detailed report, an info-comic and a Data Insight.

Our Researcher, Dr Robert Porter said:

This is the first time data from different sources has been linked together to give a clearer picture of kinship care in Scotland. While data alone does not give a full understanding of the experiences and details of the lives and circumstances of children, young people and their carers, it can help us to understand what support might be needed and where investment in this should be provided.

SCADR is a partner of ADR Scotland, which carried out a children’s engagement pilot with Children in Scotland in 2021, working with ADR UK on an approach to engage with children and young people. As a result of that research, it was agreed that when researchers are analysing children’s data, they are committed to sharing their findings in age-appropriate, accessible and engaging formats. We are delighted to have worked with design agency, media coop, to create an info-comic that we hope will help children and young people understand what kinship care is, and to discuss our research and its findings. 

The 6 page Info-Comic we produced (funded by ADR Scotland) is below:

N.B. To read the next page either tap/click on 'Visit page 2', or tap/click the play button again.

 

Main findings

  • Being cared for by family or friends is the most common arrangement for children in care in Scotland. This study looked at the data of over 19,000 children and young people who had lived in kinship care over an eleven year period, from 2008 to 2019.
  • Over that time, the proportion of 'looked after' children and young people living with kinship carers increased substantially, from around 1 in 6 (16%) of children in care in 2008, to almost 1 in 3 (29%) in 2019 - to see our visual GIF click here
  • The research found that 40% of children who have been cared for by kinship carers did not experience any other form of alternative care such as foster care or residential child care. To view our visual GIF on this, click here
  • Despite substantial improvements in the educational outcomes of children who had lived with kinship carers over the years studied, this remains an area where many children and families would benefit from additional support. To view our visual GIF on this, click here.
  • There is substantial regional variation in terms of how likely children are to live with kinship families, with children being more likely to do so in areas of high deprivation.
  • Many children are living in kinship families in Scotland who are not ‘looked after’ by their local authority, however, there is little data on children living in these other arrangements 
  • While many children and young people living in kinship families thrive, kinship carers are often supporting children with complex needs, and tailored support must be in place for the children and their carers

Professor Morag Treanor, Research Lead for the Children's Lives and Outcomes programme said:

Scotland made a promise to care-experienced children and young people: that they will grow up loved, safe and respected. To know whether that promise is being kept, we need to know and understand as much as we can about the care journeys children make. Much of what we know so far comes from looking at information on an annual basis. This is the first research project to use the journeys of kinship care, over time, to provide a vital insight into growing up in kinship care. This report provides an excellent summary of essential information to build on, with a need for further work in this area, to help us understand more on how to support and benefit children and young people living in kinship care.

The full report of Children and young people who live with kinship carers in Scotland, is available here.

 

What's next?

The report and info-comic produced from this research provide new insights into the characteristics, experiences, and outcomes of ‘looked after’ children living in kinship care in Scotland from 2008 to 2019. This was the most recent data available at the time of analysis in 2024, and more timely datasets must be available for research to provide an up-to-date picture of people’s experiences.

As is highlighted in the report, many children in Scotland live in kinship families but are not officially ‘looked after’ by their local authority and as such they are not reflected in our findings. Therefore, it would be useful if additional research is conducted to provide insights into the lives of these children and families to ensure that all children in kinship care are appropriately supported, regardless of the legal status of the kinship arrangement. 

There would also be benefit in additional research to better understand the reasons behind the regional variation in children’s experiences of kinship care across Scotland, to ensure that all kinship families have access to the support they require and deserve, no matter where they live.

Finally, while many children thrive in kinship care, it is important to remember that kinship families often support children with complex needs, and therefore tailored support should be in place to allow all kinship children and families to flourish.

In summary, this research has provided new insights into the experiences of the growing numbers of children who have lived in kinship care in Scotland, adding to what is a fairly limited knowledge base at present. The research has been welcomed by those working within the sector and provides important evidence for the future development of kinship policy and practice. There would be great benefit in complementing this administrative data research with qualitative research directly involving children, young people and families with lived experience, to provide a fuller picture of their lives and experiences that can allow policymakers to make changes that will benefit the public.

  1. ‘Looked after’ and ‘looked after child’ are the terms used in current legislation to refer to a child or young person with care and protection needs who is cared for under a formal arrangement with a local authority. 

 

This article was published on 08 Oct 2024