More than six in ten children being raised by kinship carers are not receiving the mental health support they need to deal with past trauma, a new survey has found, raising fears that a lack of specialist help could push thousands of vulnerable youngsters into the formal care system.
The annual poll by the charity Kinship, which surveyed 1,036 carers across England and Wales, found that 60.1% reported their children are not accessing the therapeutic assistance required to address their experiences of abuse, neglect or loss. The charity’s wider research, based on responses from 1,929 carers, also revealed that the proportion struggling to manage challenging behaviour has risen sharply from 52% in 2022 to 66% this year.
Almost three-quarters (71%) of those surveyed attributed these difficulties directly to the complex social, emotional and mental health needs of the children in their care. Many kinship carers – often grandparents, aunts, uncles or close family friends – step in when parents cannot provide care, and they describe carrying an “invisible weight of past trauma” that manifests in behavioural problems, attachment difficulties and educational setbacks. Nearly half (48%) of carers said their child’s adverse experiences had negatively affected their ability to cope at school.
The strain is taking a severe toll. Some 13% of respondents expressed doubts about their ability to continue providing care, with financial pressures and the challenge of managing emotional and behavioural needs cited as the most common reasons. Kinship estimates that if those carers were to give up, more than 19,000 children could end up in local authority care.
Lucy Peake, chief executive of Kinship, said: “Our latest evidence shows that the current mental health support for kinship children who have suffered high levels of trauma is not working. Kinship carers keep thousands of kinship children safe within loving families, but they can’t make their pain vanish. Day in day out they tell us that without the right tailored support kinship children urgently need, there’s a real risk that their families could break down, pushing children unnecessarily into the care system.”
The support gap between kinship and adoptive families
The most striking disparity highlighted by the research is the difference in access to funded therapy between kinship and adoptive families. The Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF), which provides money for therapeutic support for children under Special Guardianship Orders or Child Arrangement Orders, has been extended until March 2028 with an increased budget. Yet Kinship’s survey found that only 11% of eligible kinship families are receiving ASGSF-funded therapy, compared with 50% of adoptive families.
The charity argues that this gap reflects systemic barriers in the way support is allocated. While the ASGSF is a crucial resource, it has been described as sometimes inflexible and not always ensuring integration between social care, health and education. Kinship carers also report receiving inadequate advice and information from local authorities, leaving them isolated and unaware of how to access the funds they are entitled to. In contrast, adoptive families tend to have more consistent support pathways and professional guidance through the adoption process.
Earlier this year, the Department for Education launched a consultation titled “Adoption support that works for all”, which includes proposed changes to the ASGSF aimed at reforming mental health support for adoptive and eligible kinship families. The consultation closed on May 5. However, Kinship has said the proposals do not go far enough. Ms Peake said: “It’s crucial the Government takes this opportunity to provide kinship children with the specialist support they need to meet their needs, with access to therapeutic support for all children in kinship care. The futures of thousands of children are depending upon it.”
Government initiatives and the pace of reform
Alongside the ASGSF consultation, the government has launched a pilot scheme known as Kinship Zones in seven local authority areas: Bexley in Greater London, Bolton in the North West, Newcastle in the North East, North East Lincolnshire in the East Midlands, Medway in the South East, Thurrock in the East of England and Wiltshire in the South West. The pilot is testing the impact of paying eligible kinship carers an allowance equivalent to the Fostering National Minimum Allowance. The Department for Education has allocated £126 million to the scheme and estimates that around 5,000 youngsters and their families could benefit.
The government has also pointed to the Families First Partnership Programme, which provides £2.4 billion over three years, equally available to adoptive and kinship families, to improve early intervention and strengthen joint working across systems. Despite these initiatives, Kinship argues that the pace and scale of reform are too slow to address the urgent needs of the more than 141,000 children in kinship care in England and Wales.
Many kinship carers face acute financial insecurity because, unlike foster carers, they often do not receive any regular payments. The rising cost of living has exacerbated this pressure, and the lack of consistent support from councils leaves many feeling lonely and overwhelmed. Without tailored help, the charity warns, the real risk of family breakdown will continue to push vulnerable children unnecessarily into the formal care system.