Kinship Support Service

What is kinship care?

When children are brought up by members of their extended families, friends or other people who are connected with them we call this 'kinship care'. This happens for different reasons and with a variety of different arrangements.

These carers are referred to as 'kinship carers', 'kinship parents', 'friends and family carers' or 'connected persons'. Many people become kinship carers including grandparents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles or other relatives.

In some circumstances children may live with somebody outside the family but closely connected to them such as a former foster carer or close family friend.

Some common reasons for children living in kinship care include:

their parents struggling with drug or alcohol misuse or their own mental health needs
parents not being able to meet the day-to-day needs of their children
domestic abuse
death of a parents.

Watch this helpful video to learn more.

What kinship arrangements are there?

A kinship arrangement may be temporary or permanent. Sometimes the arrangement is made by the local authority as social workers try to support children to remain living with their wider birth family where it safe to do so.

Arrangements can include:

private arrangements made within the family
child arrangement order (CAO)
special guardianship order (SGO)
friends and family foster carers
private fostering (supported by a Nottinghamshire family support and safeguarding team).

What is the Kinship Support Service?

In Nottinghamshire, we believe in the power of family and encourage kinship care as a positive way to support children without them needing to come into care.

We have a dedicated team across the county comprising of social workers, welfare rights officers, family workers and support staff who are her to help kinship families. We work closely with other professionals for example from health, education and housing services, and social care to make sure families get the help they need.

We also partner with the charity Kinship who offer additional support, groups of experts by experience and training to help our kinship carers build strong, stable families.

What can the Kinship Support Service offer?

Telephone advice and guidance.
Support from our skilled and caring team for what you need, when you need it.
Review of SGO support plans when there is a change in circumstances.
Training for kinship carers.
Training and guidance to professionals.
Support with contacting the Nottinghamshire virtual school and educational psychology service for support around education issues.
Life story work.
Kinship and contact service drop in advice and guidance around family time.
Support for carers from experts by experience and connecting to support groups including those run by Hetty's Charity.
Activities for kinship children and families including an annual celebration in October.
Access to the adoption and special guardianship support fund subject to eligibility.
Benefits support, financial advice and review of kinship payments.
The service helps run a youth group in Mansfield.

Our practice standards and consultation

We value the voices of our kinship families in Nottinghamshire and do our best to always listen to their experiences to help shape the support we offer.

Kinship carers/kinship parents are invited to attend the Kinship Forum which brings together the experts by experience and professionals. The Forum, which is jointly run by a kinship parent and workers, is held every two months to gather feedback and ideas and involve kinship families in shaping our service.

We are keen to improve what we offer so that the right support is there when it's needed the most. We also ask for feedback when our involvement comes to an end to help us provide the best service we can.

How can people access support from the Kinship Support Service?

A formal referral is not needed. You can get in touch by phone or email during office hours and the team will listen carefully and respond in a way that we all agree is most helpful to you.

To find out more please contact our Kinship Support Service: