Why these briefings matter 

There is growing recognition of the importance of helping children who cannot live with their parents to remain safely within their wider family networks where possible.

Recent changes introduced through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 include a requirement for local authorities to publish a kinship local offer, setting out information about the support and services available to kinship families. The Act also introduces a duty to offer family group decision-making meetings when care proceedings are being considered. These changes place greater emphasis on identifying family options and working alongside families at an early stage.

National Kinship Standards set out in the updated government guidance for local authorities on, outline expectations for good kinship care assessment and support. They emphasise child-centred, whole-family and needs-led practice, trusting relationships, inclusive support and responding to families’ changing circumstances.

Together, these developments mean practitioners need to understand how to identify and assess potential kinship carers, build relationships with families and provide support that responds to their needs from the start.

Using these briefings

These briefings support practitioners to respond to these developments, helping them put the National Kinship Standards into practice.

1. Building strong starts for kinship families – assessment and early support explores how practitioners can:

• • Carry out effective, supportive assessments that keep the child at the centre, consider the wider family context and identify the support needed to help kinship arrangements work well.
  • Build trusting relationships and work alongside families in ways that recognise and respond to their knowledge, strengths and individual circumstances.

2. Helping kinship families thrive – ongoing support (Forthcoming) explores how practitioners can:

• • Develop inclusive, responsive and needs-led support plans that reflect the needs of children, carers and the wider family.
  • Review and adapt support as children’s and carers’ circumstances change.
  • Build trusting relationships with families to better understand their needs, help them access the right support at the right time, and navigate services.

The second briefing will be released in the coming months.

Case studies and reflective questions help practitioners explore situations they may meet in their work, reflect on their own approach and consider how they can strengthen their practice.

The briefings can be used alongside government guidance and National Kinship Standards to support reflection, supervision, team learning and practice development.

How these briefings were developed

These briefings bring together research evidence, practice knowledge and the experiences of kinship carers to explore what the statutory guidance and National Kinship Standards mean for the conversations, decisions and relationships that shape assessment and support.

Kinship, the kinship care charity, supported the development of the briefings, alongside contributions by peer reviewers. Their input helped shape the content, inform the development of the case studies and bring lived and practice experience into the resources.

Peer reviewers brought a range of perspectives, including kinship carers, adults who had experienced kinship care as children, and local authority managers and practice supervisors.

Some reviewers brought both lived and professional experience. Their feedback helped keep the briefings grounded in the experiences of kinship families and the realities of practice.