Kinship care provides the opportunity for many children to remain within their family network when they cannot live safely with their parents. However, becoming a kinship carer is often a life-changing decision made during a family crisis. Many face significant emotional, practical and financial pressures with little preparation for their new role.

Join a workshop that will explore what good assessment and support look like in practice. The session draws on the latest research, national policy, and the experiences of kinship carers and people with lived experience of kinship care. Participants will consider how practitioners can undertake robust assessments while working in partnership with families, recognising strengths, responding to support needs and planning for long-term stability.

Through case examples, discussion and reflective exercises, the workshop will explore the realities of kinship care, the challenges families face, and practical approaches that help children remain safely within their family networks.

This session is aimed at practitioners and practice leads who are responsible for assessing and supporting kinship carers.

Learning outcomes

As a result of attending this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Understand the role of kinship care within current policy and children's social care practice.  
• Recognise the strengths, pressures and support needs of kinship carers and the children they care for.  
• Reflect on how assessment can be both grounded in evidence and relationship-based, supporting informed decision-making alongside families.  
• Identify the practical, emotional, financial and therapeutic support that helps kinship arrangements remain stable over time.  
• Consider how to work collaboratively with children, carers and parents to support safe family relationships and positive outcomes.  
• Apply research and lived experience insights to strengthen your own assessment and support of kinship families.