Kinship and Stranger Foster Carers: How do they Compare?

US research suggests that kinship foster carers are a valued resource but less well supported than carers who are strangers. Jennifer Sykes, Ian Sinclair, Ian Gibbs and Kate Wilson draw on data from their own large-scale study of foster carers to see if similar issues arise in England. The study suggests that kinship carers are a heterogeneous group. Some want to be treated as carers entitled to similar levels of financial reward, and in need of training. Others may see support from social services as ‘intrusive’ and regard themselves as qualified by experience to care as they do. On average fostering appeared to have a greater impact on the financial and housing situations of these carers than it did on those of others, and many of them reported conflicts with the birth families. Despite these difficulties they received on average less training, lower levels of financial reward and less back-up than other carers. The authors conclude that, in at least some authorities, more use could be made of kinship foster care but that it is not always an appropriate choice and more thought should be given to its support.