Scotland's Vision for Kinship Care: Our Offer of Support for Families - For engagement and consultation

2. Strategic Context

The Scottish Government believes that every child in Scotland should grow up feeling loved, safe and respected, with rights upheld and relationships nurtured.

Key to this is The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (Scotland) Act 2024 which ensures that children’s rights are respected and protected in Scotland. In particular, it affirms every child’s right to preserve their identity and family relationships without unlawful interference. This includes babies and infants, whose needs must be actively recognised and evidenced in decision-making about their care.

Our overarching ambition – in line with The Promise - is to keep families together where it is safe, and to provide the support that is needed to make this happen. Where that is not possible, our legislative framework and The Promise is clear that kinship care should be actively explored as a positive place for children to be cared for, along with the right family support in place. This approach is aligned with the ambitions of our work on Whole Family Wellbeing and Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022-26 as resilient family units, with the right support, are more likely to lead to the reduction in child poverty.

Our work on The Promise is underpinned by Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) which is Scotland’s approach to supporting all children and young people. GIRFEC makes it everyone’s responsibility to ensure children grow up safe, healthy, active, nurtured, achieving, respected, responsible, and included. The GIRFEC National Practice Model helps practitioners assess and respond to the needs of children in kinship care, ensuring support is tailored and holistic. It makes it clear that all children should benefit from a coordinated system where health visitors, mental and physical health services, and local authorities collaborate seamlessly to provide support when needed. For pre-school children, this includes recognition that the Health Visitor is the Named Person for most under-5s.

We also know that early childhood development is key to laying the foundations for wellbeing throughout childhood and into adulthood. Positive experiences in the first 1,001 days (conception to age 2) and through the 0–3 stage lay the foundations for later life. Latest ECD analysis indicates looked after children are significantly more likely to present developmental concerns than non-care-experienced peers. Supporting babies, infants and their carers within kinship arrangements early and proportionately is therefore critical.

The link between kinship care and poverty is established. Many kinship carers, often grandparents or extended family members, step in during times of crisis, frequently without preparation or financial support. They may face increased costs, reduced income, and limited access to resources, all while providing full-time care.

The broader range of actions and commitments we are taking to deliver on The Promise, including activity on reducing child poverty and reforming public services are set out in our Keeping the Promise Implementation Plan Update, and Plan 24-30.

The Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill 2025, currently progressing through the Scottish Parliament, further supports our Promise ambitions by making legislative changes in areas such as the extension of eligibility to receive aftercare support and the introduction of a right to advocacy for children, young people and adults with care experience.

This working vision and offer complements the above plans and legislation, and also sits alongside our existing adoption vision and work on the future of foster care. Many of the principles – especially around intensive family support, trauma-informed practice and community-based help – are shared across all caregiver groups, while this document focuses on the specific context and needs of kinship families.