Kinship care
Kinship care is where a child is unable to live with their birth parent and is cared for by a relative or other individual with whom they have a pre-existing relationship such as a sibling, or close family friend. Kinship care can include both looked after and non-looked after children.
For looked after children, the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 define a kinship carer as "a person who is related to the child (through blood, marriage or civil partnership) or a person with whom the child has a pre-existing relationship".
Kinship care includes both:
- looked after children who have been placed with kinship carers by the local authority
- non-looked after children who live in an informal kinship care arrangement (these children may be subject to an order under Section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 or may be living in a completely private arrangement with extended family, with no local authority involvement)
Supporting kinship carers
We recognise the important role played by kinship carers in providing secure, stable and nurturing homes for children who cannot be cared for by their birth parents.
In March 2026, the Scottish Government published Scotland's vision for kinship care, which sets out a shared ambition for how kinship families should be recognised, valued and supported. The Vision provides a foundation for national and local partners to work together to improve outcomes for kinship families, helping children thrive within loving family networks and ensuring kinship carers receive the recognition, support and financial assistance they need.
We are working with partners to develop a National Delivery Plan setting out priorities and a phased approach to delivering the commitments in the Vision. We aim to publish the plan by the end of 2026.
Our kinship care guidance is primarily for practitioners who need to interpret the legislation but has been written in plain language to ensure it makes sense to all readers. It accompanies Part 13 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.
We fund Children First to deliver the Kinship Care Advice Service for Scotland (KCASS), providing kinship care support, advice and information. The service:
- provides a confidential helpline on 0808 800 0006, and advice on issues including legal and financial matters and benefits
- it also manages kinship.scot, the national website providing information about support, services, groups, news and events for kinship families and practitioners across Scotland
We also introduced additional paid family leave for Scottish Government employees who are kinship carers in January 2025. This recognises the vital role carers play and ensures they have the time and flexibility needed to balance work and care responsibilities. We are encouraging employers to explore how their organisations can adopt Kinship Friendly policies. Read more about getting involved.
Kinship allowances
In August 2023, we introduced the Scottish Recommended Allowance for foster and kinship carers. Following agreement with CoSLA, this marked the first time a set rate, which all local authorities must pay was introduced across Scotland.
The introduction of the payment means every eligible kinship carer will receive at least a standard, national allowance which recognises the valuable support they provide, no matter where they live.
This agreement does not apply to all kinship carers. It applies to:
- all kinship carers where the child has looked after status
- some informal kinship carers, where the child is not a looked after child but is subject to a Section 11 Order (to be known as a Kinship Care Order), and is or was:
- previously looked after
- at risk of becoming looked after
Kinship carers eligible for the Scottish Recommended Allowance should receive an allowance at a minimum of the same rate as foster carers in their local authority area.
In the interests of transparency, each local authority should publish their kinship and fostering allowances policy which should include:
- key details of entitlement
- eligibility criteria
- how it will be assessed
- where more information can be found
- where complaints can be made
- any other relevant information
Interaction between allowances and child-related benefits
Some kinship carers may be entitled to child-related benefits, including Child Benefit and means-tested support such as Universal Credit.
Local authorities may take certain child-related benefits into account when calculating kinship allowances. Kinship carers should contact their local authority or the Kinship Care Advice Service for Scotland for advice about how their allowance and benefits interact.
In this situation, any additional payment to bring the allowance rate up to that of a foster carer is to be considered a wellbeing payment – the kinship carer is already receiving payment from the state for accommodation and maintenance and the additional money is to ensure that the kinship child is able to benefit from opportunities that they would otherwise be unable to access.
Kinship care and the Promise
Kinship care is an important part of Scotland’s commitment to Keep the Promise. The implementation plan, published in March 2022 and updated in 2024, sets out actions to support children, young people and families, including those in kinship care.
Working together to deliver the Vision
To support delivery of the Vision, we are establishing a national partnership structure that brings together partners, practitioners, kinship carers and people with lived experience. This includes:
- a strategic advisory group - provides strategic advice and challenge to support development and delivery of the national delivery plan, including priorities, sequencing and monitoring progress
- short-life working groups - to bring together relevant expertise and lived experience to develop and progress specific actions within the delivery plan
- Kinship Care Network - provides opportunities for kinship carers, children and young people with lived experience, practitioners and organisations to share learning, contribute their views and help inform delivery of the Vision
Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Act 2026
The Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Act 2026 includes new provisions to strengthen the assessment of need and support available to eligible kinship families.
The Act places duties on local authorities to offer a kinship care needs assessment in specified circumstances. It also gives eligible kinship carers the right to request an assessment and to request a review of an assessment. Where an assessment or review is requested, it must be carried out within three months of the request being received.
The Act also provides for statutory guidance to support local authorities in carrying out these duties,and includes provisions enabling Scottish Ministers to require local authorities to provide anonymised or aggregated information about kinship care assistance. This will help improve our understanding of the needs of kinship families and support greater consistency in how they are assessed and supported across Scotland.
Further work, including engagement with kinship families, local authorities and other partners, will inform implementation of these provisions. The new requirements will take effect once the relevant provisions of the Act are brought into force.