My views on Kinship Care and the need for it be properly supported, but only when its a better option for the child than adoption or fostering

1. There is a lot of nonsense written about my views about Kinship
Care, sometimes by organisations which should know better and who
insist on seeing adoption as being in direct competition with Kinship
Care. To be blunt, I think that’s absurd. There are about sixty six
thousand children in care in England and last year there were only
three thousand adoptions.
So I’m grateful to be given this opportunity to be very clear about
what I really believe. And that is that when a child cannot live with
his or her parents, whether because of neglect or for any other
reason, the first place that we should look when searching for a new
and permanent home for the child is the wider family. Grandparents
first I would say, and then other relatives, although the search should
not go on forever as more and more unrealistic options are explored.
I was staggered to discover a case last year where a Court ordered
the consideration of the suitability of a relative living in Somalia to
care for a British toddler (and depressed by the practitioner at a
Community Care Conference who sought to defend such nonsense)
But, there is a “but” here and an important “but”. Before a decision is
made on kinship care we must be quite sure that we are not
compromising the interests of the child. Where neglect has been the
reason for removal, and if we think the child might be further
neglected, perhaps because the grandparents might allow a
neglectful parent too close an involvement in the child’s life, we
should look at other options. Or, where we are simply uncertain of
the capacity or willingness of relatives to give a child the same
opportunities afforded by alternative care arrangements, particularly
adoption, we should look elsewhere. I have no truck with notions
about blood being thicker than water. If that were a reliable test then
there would never be a need to remove a child from his or her birth
parents.
I see grandparents as the first port of call when looking for a new and
permanent home for a child not because blood is thicker than water
but simply because grandparents have a vital start on any other
potential carer: they already love the child and the child already
loves them.
I know that, not least because of my getting to know some of the
grandparents who have come together to form Kinfest. Their
motivation to look after their grandchildren is motivated by

2. unselfishness and love for the child. But too often such altruism is
punished by grave financial difficulties, as couples that have reduced
incomes suitable for a life approaching or in retirement, suddenly
have to cope with the expense of child rearing once again. It’s
important that kinship carers do not find the burden of care
overwhelming. Although I think there will sometimes be very good
reasons for preferring adoption to kinship care, the affordability of
the kinship care for the relatives should never be one of them.
Martin Narey
nareymartin@gmail.com
Government Advisor on Adoption