The Scottish Government Response To 'A Scotland for Children: A Consultation on a Children and Young People Bill'

Kinship Care Order

In order to recognise the parenting role of kinship carers in legislation, we proposed a new order that would provide a firm foundation on which to build a lifelong permanent relationship between the child and their carer, but preserve the fundamental link between the child and their birth family. The order would also give the carer clear responsibility for all aspects of caring for the child and for taking decisions to do with their upbringing, offer an alternative to formal care and provide a right to request an assessment of need by the carer and a right to appropriate financial and non-financial support. The overall aim was to provide additional support that would assist kinship carers to provide safe and stable long-term care for children who might otherwise require or continue to require formal care.

What You Said

56% of respondents agreed that the proposal to introduce a new order for kinship carers was a helpful addition to provide children with a long-term, stable environment without having to become looked after. 24% respondents disagreed and 20% neither agreed nor disagreed. The main reasons given in support of the proposals were that: it would enable kinship carers to access support, financial or otherwise; it would avoid the child becoming formally looked after; and it would avoid the child unnecessarily going into foster care. Concerns about the proposal related to the belief that the added value of the proposals was not clear, and that the policy intention could be met more effectively through enhanced use of section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. There were other concerns that the proposal would: result in duplication with existing orders under section 11 of the 1995 Act, and cause confusion, more bureaucracy and delays; and a worry that kinship carers might be reluctant to try to obtain the order. Feedback from the national engagement events and tailored meetings was consistent with that of the formal consultation.

The Scottish Government Response

The Scottish Government has held detailed discussions with kinship carers, local authorities and other key stakeholders to determine whether this proposal could be amended to achieve more effectively the policy intention of providing kinship carers with more support in order to improve the stability and permanence of care for the children they look after. Along with the consultation feedback, these discussions highlighted a number of improvements to the original proposals which would achieve the policy aim while addressing key concerns.

Therefore, the Bill will include provisions that enhance support provided to kinship carers who obtain an order under section 11(1) of the 1995 Act (for parental responsibilities and rights and/or a residence order). These would be designated a kinship care order, and if the child who is subject to the order satisfied any eligibility test that may apply (and which would be set out in secondary legislation), they would be entitled to additional support from the local authority (such support to be prescribed in secondary legislation). This support would help kinship carers to provide a more stable environment for the children in their care.

The precise balance of new rights and needs-based support will be determined in due course and in consultation with key stakeholders including local authorities and kinship carers. The Bill includes provision for at least 600 hours of early learning and childcare for all 2 year olds who are subject to a kinship care order. Some other forms of assistance might be linked to an eligibility test. It is expected that assistance will be time limited in most cases to around 3 years, to reflect the purpose of the kinship care order which is to help children stay within the wider family (and avoid unnecessarily becoming looked after, such as in foster care), and where necessary, with targeted and time-limited support. In addition to the early learning and childcare support above, it is anticipated that this package may include financial and practical support with the court petition, a start-up grant, transitional support where a kinship care order leads to a child ceasing to be looked after and financial, practical or in-kind support to meet the requirements of a section 11 Contact Order.

In order to further promote the role of kinship carers (whether or not with a kinship care order) and to drive forward public sector reform in this area, the Scottish Government also intends to provide families with additional entitlements when facing difficulties that, if left unchecked, could lead to a child becoming looked after. The Bill introduces a duty on local authorities to ensure that families in the early stages of distress who seek help are provided with appropriate forms of counselling (for example, family group conferencing or support with substance misuse). This will be available where a child's wellbeing would be at risk of being impaired - in particular where the child is at risk of becoming looked after - and is intended to act as an early and effective support mechanism, and where appropriate, it can be used to promote the role of a kinship carer.

An important feature of this entitlement to counselling is that families must be willing to engage with their issues and motivated to take control over the challenges they face. Local authorities will provide this assistance and will be afforded some discretion to determine the exact form that would be appropriate, depending on the circumstances of the family. Guidance will be issued to support local authorities with implementation. If used early and targeted on reducing the risk of a child becoming looked after, intensive family therapies such as Family Group Conferencing can have exceptionally high success rates. Combined with the revised kinship care order provisions, these additional measures should promote early stability and permanence and are expected to put downward pressure on the number of children who become looked after over the medium term.