Calls for Greater Support for Kinship Carers

A new report released to mark Families Week, which this year took place from 15th – 21st May, has revealed that relative/kinship carers are not receiving the support they need to carry out the role. 

According to the report, by the Australian Institute of Family Studies, relative/kinship carers were less likely to access the professional support and training they needed than foster carers.

“Most of the relative/kinship care is falling to grandparents – with two thirds of kinship carers now grandparents or even great-grandparents,” explained Institute Director, Anne Hollands.

“Relative/kinship carers are mostly grandmothers who are financially less well-off and experiencing more health problems,” she said. “They take on the care of a vulnerable child who has been abused or neglected, often with limited support or preparation themselves for the complex challenges that lie ahead of them.”

“The children live with them for an average of three to four years and have commonly been exposed to family violence and alcohol and drug issues,” she added. “Despite these complex issues, just over a third of relative/kinship carers ever received some form of training compared to nine in ten foster carers.”

According to Institute Senior Research Fellow, Dr Lixia Qu, many carers experienced difficulties and almost half said they were unlikely to look after another child in future, with some suggesting that they were getting ‘too old’ and others that the emotional investment had taken its toll.

However, despite the difficulties, 90% of all carers believed they were making a positive difference in a child’s life and said that caring for these children was a rewarding experience.

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