In addition to the allowances, participating authorities will receive funding to develop earlier support for wider family networks, including informal kinship carers, with the aim of preventing children from entering the care system.
Alongside the pilot announcement, a report from the Government’s National Kinship Care Ambassador urged all local authorities to strengthen support for kinship families as part of their requirement to publish a local kinship care offer.
Lucy Peake, chief executive of Kinship, welcomed the pilot as an important step toward addressing what the charity describes as longstanding inequalities in financial support for kinship families. However, she warned that the scheme will initially reach only a small proportion of children in kinship care across England.
Peake said many carers struggle financially after unexpectedly taking on the care of relatives’ children, and that more comprehensive national reform is needed. She added that some kinship carers have expressed concerns about their ability to continue caring without additional support.
Campaigners argue that better financial support for kinship care could improve outcomes for children while also reducing public spending. Kinship has previously estimated that for every 100 children supported in well-resourced kinship placements rather than entering local authority care, the state could save around £4 million annually while increasing the children’s lifetime earnings.
The Government has said the findings from the pilot will help shape future policy on kinship care and determine whether the allowance model should be rolled out more widely.
