The Numbers Game and Kinship Caring

Yesterday a new report was published on the nature and extent of kinship caring in the US, entitled ‘Stepping Up for Kids – What Governments and Communities Should do to Support Kinship Families’.  

The report provides a unique insight into the number of children being raised by family and friends and some of the challenges experienced by kinship carers when caring for their family and friend’s children.

The report concludes that more than 2.7 million children in the US are being raised by relatives and close family friends.  That’s a lot of children

Other key findings include:-

• Number of children being raised in family and friends care has increased 18% in the last 10 years.
• 104,000 children are being raised by kin formally, ie placed in the care of family and friends by the State.
• Number of children in kinship care grew 6 times faster than the number of children in the general population (18% v 3%)
• Around 4% of all children are in kinship care.
• 1 in 11 children live in kinship care at some point before the age of 18.
• 1 in 5 black children spends time in kinship care at some point in their childhood.
• Around 400,000 children live with kin as an alternative to foster care (known to child welfare agencies but have not been formally placed)
• Number of children in kinship foster care (formal arrangements) is almost 26% of the foster care population.
• 38% of children in public and private kinship care were living below the poverty line, 63% below 200% of the poverty line.
• 60% of children in public and private kinship care were living in households where their carer was over the age of 50.
• States with the highest number of children in kinship care were California (333,000), Florida (164,000), Illinois (105,000) and Georgia (103,000).
• States with the lowest number of children in kinship care were Idaho (7,000), Alaska (7,000) and District of Columbia (5,000).
• State reliance on kinship care as the preferred option for children in foster care ranged from 6% to 46%.

These figures make for difficult reading especially since some States seem to place more emphasis on kinship care than others.

The report highlights other important findings – that kinship care is the best option when children cannot live with their own parents; that kinship care increases child safety, permanence and well being and that children in kinship foster care experience fewer school disruptions than children in non kinship foster care arrangements.  It also finds, however, that kinship carers are more likely to be poor, single, older, less well educated and unemployed.

Although numbers are important, they don’t tell the full story.  They don’t tell of the hardships of kinship carers or the many sacrifices they make when trying to keep their families together.  Nor do they tell the stories, experiences and support needs of children who, for whatever reason cannot live with their own parents.

Why should it matter if the number of children in kinship care is 2.7 million, 10,000 or 10? 

It is time to stop playing the numbers game and for governments to recognise and support these families.  It’s time to do the right thing!

Report:- Stepping Up for Kids, The Annie. E Casey Foundation http://www.aecf.org/KnowledgeCenter/Publications.aspx?pubguid={642BF3F2-9A85-4C6B-83C8-A30F5D928E4D}

Adoption, Fostering and Kinship Care

I haven’t blogged for while because I (like others) have become overwhelmed with everything that is happening on a policy front in relation to children in care.  But I have made a point of keeping on top of everything, and over the last few weeks I have become intrigued by the exchange of views between adoption and foster care agencies on how they will feature in future policy making with regard to children in care.

The ’22 Minute’ Nationwide Fostercare Campaign is an excellent campaign.  My view of fostering is similar to that of others – that foster carers provide good, stable environments for kids who might otherwise end up in residential care.  I should say, however, that for some children residential care is the better option.  I say this having grown up in childrens homes myself.

A few months ago I came across the Facebook Page of a National Fostercare Charity.  A link had been posted by the Charity on the record number of children coming into care and the subsequent need for more foster carers.  What I found interesting about this link was the comments made by what appeared to be foster carers.  There were around 100 comments made between two threads, both on the same issue.  Each comment was similar to the next – foster carers complaining that they had been approved but that they hadn’t received a child.  Others commented that they had room for 2-3 more children, but had not received any placements.  It struck me then, as it does now if foster carers who have already been assessed and approved to foster aren’t actually fostering then why do we need all these new foster carers?

The 22 Minute campaign is based on the fact that every 22 minutes a child comes into care.  But does every child coming into care need to be fostered?  Over the past week I have followed this campaign in Northern Ireland calling for 100 new foster carers. A few days into the campaign I got slightly confused.  A social worker from one of our five Trusts was on the radio and when asked how many foster carers were needed for her particular Trust area, the social worker said 6.  So does that mean we need 94 foster carers across our other four Trust areas, or that we don’t need 100 at all?  Two very similar campaigns running alongside each other, each sending out a different message.

And then we have adoption and Martin Narey, the adoption Tsar for England.  I like Mr Narey although I am anxious about his position on wanting to speed up the adoption process so more children are adopted.  My concern about adoption is due to a number of reasons.  Firstly, siblings will be split up (depending on their age) and secondly family members who want to step in and raise their relative’s children will find themselves out of time and unable to do so because a decision has already been made for the child to be adopted.  My biggest concern, however, about adoption is this.  Because adoption is likely to involve young children under the age of 5, this could result in care arrangements for children being determined by their age and not necessarily by their individual or long-term needs.  Adoption for children under the age of 5, foster care for children age 6-13 and residential care for kids 13+.  Or perhaps that won’t happen at all and I am stressing over nothing.

I read an article yesterday by Christopher Barker called ‘Child Snatching is Now Big Business’.  The article mentions the 22 Minute campaign and the vast amount of money that is pumped into the foster care system in England.  What worried me about this article (aside from its title) was the average cost of keeping a children in care (£37,000 per year) and kids being portrayed in terms of a ‘£’ sign – something that should never, ever happen when it comes to children in need of protection.  But have children in care really become ‘big business’?  I hope not.

Last, but certainly not least is kinship care – the most important care arrangement of them all.  Now, here’s where it gets interesting. If children in need of protection and children on the edge of care are helped remain within their own families the number of children requiring adoption or fostering will inevitably reduce.  In terms of investment, children in kinship care may require support in helping them adjust and come to terms with the loss or removal of their parents and financial support so they aren’t left to live in poverty.  Additional supports may also be needed depending on the needs of the child and their carer – but no where near what it costs to keep a child in care.

So what am I missing?  It costs less to keep a child in kinship care than it does foster care and residential care. UK and international research suggests children are safer in kinship care than non kinship care arrangements and outcomes for children in kinship care are better.  So why is it that kinship care is viewed as some secondary intervention for vulnerable children?  Why is it that money is being pumped into adoption and foster care but kinship care gets little to nothing?   And why is it that we pursue campaigns and policy decisions in support of adoption and fostering when the most important arrangement of all is sitting right in front of our noses (kinship care).

Good questions, but no answers.  ‘Child snatching’ is not an appropriate term to use when discussing the needs of vulnerable children.  But if it’s not this, then what is it?

Article ‘Childsnatching is Now Big Business’ (towards the end) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/9277302/About-the-euro-and-global-warming-it-turns-out-the-thought-criminals-were-right.html

 

Keeping Siblings Together

Not long ago I came across a case involving a sibling group of 6 which until recently kept me awake at night.

A few months ago I dealt with a case involving 6 children.  The children were aged 10 days to 12 years old.  All six children had been taken into care and split between 6 different placements.  Two of the children were placed with two different family members, and the other 4 were placed with four different foster families.  The children got to see each other 2 hours every week.

What kept me up at night was the 12 year old boy, the eldest of the 6 children.  I could imagine how he was feeling – the confusion, the despair and the grief at losing all meaningful contact with his brothers and sisters.  I wondered how he was getting on, and how he was managing to cope.  I felt his pain, but despite my best attempts there was absolutely nothing I could do for him.

I remember when I was 12 and my sister went to live with her new foster family, leaving me behind in a children’s home.  I put a brave face on because I didn’t want anyone to see how upset I was at being separated from my sister.  We had grown up together, we had travelled through the care system together and we had shared many upsetting and joyful times together.  It was hard saying goodbye, and not knowing if I would ever see her again.

I recently heard that the 12 year old boy has been reunited with his 2 siblings in kinship care, and is living with his great aunt.  No words could describe how happy I was to hear of this development. 

I get quite angry when I hear of children who are placed with strangers or put into residential care, and then a few months later they are placed with members of their own family.  The system is so crisis led that when children are removed from parents the best they can hope for is to placed in foster care or in a local childrens home.  I think these children deserve better.

I am of the opinion that when a child comes to the attention of social services at an early stage, that social service professionals should preempt the child coming into care.  Social services should identify suitable kin, carry out an assessment, including a Police Check and develop a contingency plan.  So, if the situation with the child deteriorates to the point where the child has to be removed from his/her parents, there is a contingency plan in place which ensures children avoid being taken into foster care/residential care.

I don’t think the social care system fully appreciates the trauma experienced by already traumatised children when they are placed with strangers; or the impact on sibling groups who are split up before being placed with members of their own family.  I think we under estimate the bond siblings share when they grow up in difficult and challenging circumstances. 

19 years after leaving care and I barely know my sister.  We don’t share special occasions and we have little if anything in common.  Our relationship is strained and we have difficulty communicating with each other.  Our relationship is alot different from what it was when we were in care.  My sister and I are merely strangers connected by early life experiences and the same surname.

We owe it to these children to make sure the system works for them, not the other way round.

A fantastic charity working to keep siblings connected who are separated across a range of different care arrangements is SiblingsTogether http://www.siblingstogether.org.uk/aboutus.php