If you needed to care for a family member or friend’s child because they could no longer do so, would you? Knowing that if you said no, they would go into care?
Most of us would say yes without hesitation, without considering the practicalities, the financial implications, or the emotional toll on everyone involved.
That’s a decision that thousands of kinship carers have to make, often at short notice with very little time to decide. Yet despite stepping up and providing an invaluable role, many are left with next to no support or access to mental health services for the children they care for.
At Kinship, we’ve been warning of the toll this is having on families for a decade, yet in 2026, kinship children are still often invisible in the system, and support for their mental health is, in fact, declining.
While there have been positive reforms for kinship care in recent years, mental health support is still far behind. Our recent ...
English (US)