Dr Jahnine Davis (centre) held a roundtable for kinship care young people to mark National Kinship Care Week
To mark the 10th anniversary of Kinship Care Week, National Kinship Care Ambassador, Dr Jahnine Davis, sets out why recognising kinship care is so important. From the National Kinship Standards to the Kinship Zones pilots, she explores what a genuine whole family approach looks like in practice, keeping children's voices central while supporting parents and carers throughout their kinship care journey.
A year of growing ambitionOver the past year, I have been encouraged by the growing ambition for kinship care across policy, practice, and reform. Kinship care is increasingly recognised not as a niche issue at the margins of children’s services, but as a vital part of our system of help, support, and protection.
That recognition matters, but recognition alone does not change children’s experiences. We need a deeper understanding of children’s lives and the relationships that shape them.
A whole family approach that keeps children at the centre must understand their identity, sense of belonging, and the relationships that matter most to them, and the support that helps them thrive. It must also recognise what parents, carers and wider family members need to sustain those relationships and provide children with stability.
The Government’s updated Kinship Care Statutory Guidance makes clear the role of kinship within the wider children’s social care reform landscape. It is critical to keeping more children safely within their family networks and supporting enduring relationships. Visibility of kinship care is also increasing with kinship carers included in Government’s review of parental leave, and kinship care being added as an indicator to the autumn school census. The Law Commission’s review of the legal framework underpinning kinship arrangements has the potential to address the challenges families have described for many years.
No single kinship experienceThere is no single kinship experience. Special educational needs and/or disability, race and ethnicity, age, poverty, family circumstances, and community can all shape children’s and families’ experiences and the support they need.
That is why the new National Kinship Standards matter. I am proud to have led their development through engagement with children, kinship families and sector leaders. They provide a shared ambition for what positive support should look like and a basis for improving local practice.
Having national standards is not enough, their value will be determined by whether they strengthen leadership, improve accountability and create greater consistency in children’s and families’ experiences. Families experience support locally, where they live should not determine whether they are recognised, understood, or properly supported.
Learning from Kinship ZonesThe Kinship Zones programme also gives us an opportunity to learn what a more joined-up approach can achieve. Across seven local authorities, it brings together a kinship allowance and Family Network Support Packages to explore how financial assistance, practical help and stronger family networks can support children to remain safely within their families.
Crucially, this is not only about what happens after a child moves into kinship care. Where children can remain safely with their parents, that support may prevent difficulties escalating. Where they cannot, the right support may enable a relative or family friend to offer a safe, stable, and loving home. Where a kinship arrangement is already in place, financial and wider support can help sustain it.
These are not separate ambitions. They are different points in the same journey.
A journey, not a destinationThat same principle underpins the national research I am leading into children’s experiences of kinship care. This should be understood as a journey, not simply a destination. Listening to children throughout that journey, alongside understanding what their families need, will help shape policy, practice, and support. Through visits and conversations with local authorities, I have seen determination, innovation, and a genuine willingness to understand what really makes a difference. Greater recognition does not automatically produce consistency, and policy ambition is not the same as lived experience.
What success will look likeThe challenge now is to turn ambition into experiences that feel different for families. Do children feel seen, heard, and supported? Do carers receive help that reflects the realities they face? Are parents enabled to remain important in their lives where it is safe and appropriate? Can families access support throughout their journey rather than only when difficulties have become acute? Ultimately, are we helping children remain connected to the people who know them, love them, and are committed to them?
Kinship care is fundamentally about identity, belonging, and family connection.
There is much to be optimistic about, but there is still much to do. That challenge belongs to all of us.
seen at 16:36, 6 October in Children’s social care.