Lack of support for children in kinship and special guardianship families

Children in kinship care are experiencing significant mental health challenges and behavioural difficulties from as young as four years old, a report from Cardiff University shows.

Funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the study concludes these issues could significantly impact on their experiences in school and long-term outcomes. Despite this, there is a lack of support from authorities and awareness from teachers, experts and families say.

The findings also show that kinship and special guardianship families in Wales are significantly more likely to be living in areas of deprivation, have a lower income, and have larger, more complex households than other families.

Wales has some of the highest rates of children in care in the UK, and much of the developed world.

Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs), often granted to kinship carers who have a pre-existing relationship with a child, are increasingly used in Wales as an option for children in care to leave the care system and live permanently with an alternative caregiver when there is no realistic chance that they can return home to their parents.

They are now more commonly used as a route out of care than adoption, and give children the chance to remain connected to their family and community. However, once an SGO is granted, many children and their families are left without ongoing support.

Lead researcher Dr Lorna Stabler, based at Cardiff University’s Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE), said: “Our findings reveal the challenging circumstances facing kinship carers and special guardians in Wales. Kinship carers and special guardians often step up to look after children because of a deep love and commitment to them. They want to provide a long-term stable environment to children who have experienced trauma and adversity.”

For the study, researchers analysed anonymous social work data from the SAIL databank, tracking the outcomes of more than 26,000 children in care across Wales, including 2,380 who later received an SGO.

A total of 42 children aged 4 – 7 in kinship care also took part in face-to-face visits with researchers. Children visited the university with their carer on two occasions to engage in a range of activities designed to measure their cognitive, social and emotional skills and development. Carers and teachers were also asked to fill out questionnaires based on their observations of the children. The results showed that more than 50% of children were rated as having high, or very high levels of emotional and behavioural difficulties. This compares with rates of 8% seen in the wider child population.

The study also found worrying inequalities about which children in care received an SGO across Wales. Children with a disability, those who were not white, and those living in certain local authority areas were less likely than other children in care to be granted an SGO. For example,in Merthyr Tydfil, 15.6% of all children in the sample exited care with an SGO, whereas in Wrexham this was only 2.7%.

Daisy Chaudhuri, a carer who raised three children under a Special Guardianship Order said: “I am not surprised at the high number of children that had suffered adverse childhood experiences, emotional difficulties and mental health issues in this research. In my view it is 100% of children who are affected in some way, as being removed from your birth family is an adverse childhood experience in itself.

“I think how much it affects the child is impacted by the help given to them by the adults around them and that help only comes if people realise that they have actually been affected.  Many think that if a child is removed at a young age they will be ‘fine’ but research shows that we can have adverse experiences in the womb.

“The granting of an SGO is often seen as the end of state involvement. The first time I asked for help I was told by one social worker, ‘you took out the SGO, so you are on your own now!’ That was definitely not the impression I was given when asked to take out the SGO. Support, including therapeutic support for families, should be put in place immediately to help mitigate some of the impact of trauma for the children and secondary trauma for those who care for them.

“I think a lack of understanding of the impact of the trauma these children experienced can lead to these needs being ‘hidden’ and schools, in particular, need to be educated on how these needs might present themselves in the child and how teachers and others can help. It is a lack of awareness that often leads to a child being labelled as ‘naughty, disruptive and unwilling to learn’.”

Sharon De’Ath from Blackwood, took on responsibility for her grandson Reegan, when he was just 10 months old. Now aged, 14, he is doing well, but Sharon has had to fight for him to access therapy. Sharon is a member of the Kinship Voices advisory group that Dr Stabler set up with AFKA Cymru, to give kinship carers an opportunity to influence research and policy across Wales.

Initially Sharon and her husband were fostering Reegan, but were persuaded by the local authority to apply for a Special Guardianship Order. Once that was granted, she says support dropped away.

Sharon said: “I have wondered, did I do him a disservice by taking him on under an SGO. If he had stayed in fostering or been adopted, he would have had access to therapy, but we had to fight for every bit of support.”

Sharon said the financial issues of people who take on children under SGOs are also often overlooked.

“When Reegan came to us, I had to give up my £30,000 a year job so it had a huge financial impact on us,” she said. “We were dealing with a massive change in our circumstances, along with navigating the emotional turmoil of the situation. But once the SGO came in, we didn’t hear from any support services again.”

The latest report, Special guardianship families in Wales: Experiences and support needs (Nuffield Foundation) is available to view here.