Scotland's vision for kinship care: our offer of support for families

5. Scottish Offer To Kinship Families

Kinship carers play a vital role in providing safe, loving homes for children and young people, where they cannot live with their parents. We recognise that where children are not being looked after by the local authority, not all kinship carers, want, or require intensive support, but many kinship carers in these situations tell us they feel unrecognised, under-supported and sometimes stigmatised.

Our Scottish offer is informed by research and the voices of children, young people and carers, as well as the practitioners and partners who support them. It sets out the basic level of support that every kinship family should be able to expect, wherever they live in Scotland, and regardless of the legal status of their arrangement. If a child or young person is looked after by the local authority in a kinship care arrangement they may already be accessing this support, as well as there being other duties placed on the local authorities. For those kinship families where there is no local authority involvement, this offer is not about increasing unnecessary statutory interference in private family life – instead it aims to increase support to kinship families who need and choose it.

In this section, some commitments reflect existing duties and services that we want to strengthen, others will require changes to legislation or guidance. All legislative proposals are subject to approval by the Scottish Parliament and may change depending on the outcome of Stage three of the parliamentary process for the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill 2025.^[8]

Some elements of the Scottish Offer to Kinship Families, for example support for family relationships, strengthening kinship expertise or kinship co-ordination or mentoring pilots will require detailed work, with local partners and kinship carers, to plan out how they will be implemented in practice, including what additional resource or funding would be required to deliver the service. As indicated earlier, the Scottish Government will co-design a sequenced, costed delivery plan with local authorities, the third sector and people with lived experience.

Scottish Offer To Kinship Families

1. Voice – Listening to and amplifying lived experience

Babies, infants, children, young people and kinship carers must have a meaningful say in the decisions that affect their lives and in how services are designed and delivered.

Our commitments:

• Independent advocacy: Children and young people in kinship care, and those who have experience of kinship care, will have improved access to independent advocacy support, through legislation and statutory guidance, to help them understand their rights and participate meaningfully in decisions affecting their lives.
• Universal definition of “care experience”: Will be developed (through statutory guidance). This will include those with experience of kinship care and will help to raise awareness, reduce stigma and improve consistency in support and understanding of care experience across public services.
• Positive recognition: We will promote positive recognition of kinship care through awareness raising and improving understanding, knowledge and skills among professionals – including health and education – and the public, so that kinship families experience informed, respectful and appropriate support.
• Life journey work: Will be promoted as good practice, where appropriate to a child’s circumstances and wishes, to help children understand their story and strengthen identity and belonging. It will be delivered in a trauma informed and child-led way, with skilled professional support where required.

2. Family – Support that keeps families together

Often kinship care is about sustaining family relationships and navigating complex family dynamics. Families must be able to access timely, proportionate help that reflects their individual and unique circumstances.

Our commitments:

• Right to request support assessment: Through legislation, kinship families will have the right to request, or be proactively offered, a proportionate assessment of their support needs, aligned to the existing GIRFEC approach and National Practice Model. It will be proportionate to the family’s circumstances and will not duplicate existing child protection processes or statutory adult carer assessments. This assessment will consider the circumstances of the child and wider family where relevant, but will not create a separate or additional statutory child protection or child’s plan process. This could be carried out by the local authority, for example by family workers, and we are exploring the feasibility of delivery models involving third sector partners, while retaining local authority accountability for statutory duties. Detail will be set out in statutory guidance.
• Alignment with GIRFEC planning: The assessment of support needs and any agreed actions would, where relevant, align with existing GIRFEC processes – including the Child’s Plan or other multi-agency planning arrangements for the child. However, the kinship carer’s support needs are distinct and may require separate consideration. Where there is no formal Child’s Plan, or where carer needs are not reflected within it, there should be a proportionate written record of the assessment and agreed, to ensure clarity, coordination and shared understanding across services.
• Extended Kinship Care Assistance: We will extend and clarify, in law, and statutory guidance the range of supports available as Kinship Care Assistance (KCA), to be delivered by local authorities in line with their statutory duties, to include:
  • Income maximisation and financial support (including clear interaction  with benefits)
  • Information, advice and guidance
  • Emotional and therapeutic support (e.g. counselling, mediation, trauma-informed services)
  • Peer and community support networks
  • Learning and development opportunities
  • Practical and material assistance (e.g. household adjustments, transport, planned and emergency respite, including short breaks that reflect the age and needs of the child and the circumstances of the carer)
  • Transitional and continuing support as children move between  arrangements with implementation phased and supported through guidance and delivery planning.
• Support for family relationships: Kinship families will be supported to  maintain and strengthen relationships with parents, siblings and wider family where it is safe and, in the child’s, best interests, recognising that managing complex family dynamics can be emotionally demanding and, at times, involve conflict. Support may include mediation, therapeutic input and clear professional boundaries to protect children and carers from harm, including clear, accessible information on family time arrangements and where to get help when challenges arise. Birth parents should also be able to access appropriate support so that relationships can be repaired and sustained safely wherever possible.
• Family Group Decision Making (FGDM): Where decisions are being made about a child’s care or support arrangements, FGDM can be used to help families and professionals plan together, where appropriate and aligned with legislation and local arrangements.

3. Care – Stability, fairness and equity

Every kinship family should experience equitable support, taking account of rural dimensions, regardless of where they live or the legal status of their arrangement.

Our commitments:

• Publication of allowance rates: Through legislation, Ministers will require local authorities to publish the rates of payments paid to both foster and kinship carers, supporting efforts to ensure national parity of allowances, in line with the Scottish Recommended Allowance (SRA) and provide clear information to carers on what the allowance is intended to cover for the child.
• Aftercare access: Children and young people from kinship families who were previously ‘looked after’ before age 16, and who need and want support, will have the right to access Aftercare from age 16.
• Local kinship offer: Local partners will be supported through Children’s Services Planning processes to develop and publish a local kinship care offer, setting out how the national offer is delivered locally, taking account of local needs and priorities and building on existing services and subject to available resources, with national support to reduce burden.
• Transitional support: Kinship families will benefit from access to proportionate and transitional support as children move from looked after to Section 11 kinship care arrangements, avoiding abrupt loss of help. While statutory kinship care assistance applies only to those with a Section 11 order, local partners should seek to avoid cliff-edges in support for other kinship families wherever possible.

4. People – Skilled, connected and supported communities

Kinship carers and practitioners have distinct roles and responsibilities, but both require access to clear information, learning, peer networks and professional advice to sustain high-quality care.

Our commitments:

• Kinship Starter Pack: Every new kinship carer should receive clear, accessible information early in their journey. We will develop a nationally consistent Kinship Starter Pack (digital and paper), co-designed with carers and young people, including:
  • plain English explanation of kinship care and legal routes
  • financial entitlements and benefit interactions
  • step-by-step practical checklists (school, GP, housing, benefits)
  • where to access advice, advocacy and peer support
  • guidance on family time and managing complex relationships
  • information on respite and emotional support
• Local authorities will be encouraged to strengthen dedicated kinship care expertise within their existing structures,(for example through specialist kinship teams or lead practitioners or identified points of contact, in line with local need and capacity.
• Kinship carers will be informed about the offer of support from the Named Person or Lead Professional where there is a Child’s Plan, so that assessment and support for the child and family are co-ordinated.
• Kinship co-ordination pilots: We will explore and pilot, in partnership with local authorities, models of kinship co-ordination, to provide a clear point of contact for kinship carers navigating services such as education, health and housing, as well as linking into local community groups. These roles would not replace statutory social work functions or existing lead professionals, but would complement them by improving coordination and clarity for families. This may involve adapting existing initiatives/services or roles rather than creating new standalone posts. Governance arrangements, scope of responsibility and cost, will be co-designed out with local partners in advance of piloting to avoid duplication and ensure clear lines of accountability, with clear escalation routes into statutory services where required.
• Evidence of caring role: We will explore options to provide kinship carers with a consistent and proportionate way to evidence their caring role across services, to reduce barriers and repeatedly explain their circumstances.
• Trauma training: Access to bespoke trauma training for kinship carers, developed as part of the National Trauma Transformation Programme, to help carers provide trauma-informed care.
• Guided by partners and kinship carers we will develop further information or learning resources that would help them better support the children and young people they are looking after.
• Mentoring pilots: We will explore pilot opportunities for experienced kinship carers, or foster carers who no longer foster full-time to mentor new kinship carers, sharing learning and peer support. Where short, child-centred breaks are considered as part of a pilot, these would operate within existing safeguarding checks, approval and oversight arrangements, and would not create informal or unregulated care arrangements.
• Practitioner learning: Practitioners working with kinship families will have access to shared learning resources, communities of practice and training, supported at a national level and delivered in partnership with local authorities and sector bodies. This will include cross-sector learning on kinship care principles and practice, alongside profession-specific development to reflect the distinct statutory responsibilities and specialist skills required within social work and other services so that support is consistent and grounded in evidence and lived experience.

5. Scaffolding – A coordinated and sustainable system

To make this offer real, delivery must be underpinned by robust structures, resources and partnerships.

Our commitments:

• Children’s Services Planning alignment: Local delivery is intended to be aligned with Children’s Services Planning Partnerships (CSPPs), ensuring alignment across agencies and integration with whole family support and child poverty planning.
• Costed delivery plan: Implementation will be sequenced through a costed national delivery plan, developed collaboratively with local partners and those with lived experience.
• Housing collaboration: We will actively facilitate sharing of good practice and innovative ideas between housing and social work and wider partners professionals to tackle some of the challenges such as overcrowding, access to priority points, and adaptations where children move into kinship care at short notice or have additional needs.
• Data and guidance improvements: We will continue to develop guidance, templates and data improvements to promote consistency and reduce administrative burden.
• Progress will be tracked, using existing reporting mechanisms where possible, with regular reporting on milestones and outcomes for children and families.
• We will explore what more needs done to ensure a clear and understandable kinship policy and legislative landscape, and the cost/benefits of any changes.
• We will redesign the Kinship Care Collaborative to help us deliver the vision and offer.
• Kinship-Friendly Employers: We will work with employers across Scotland to encourage the voluntary adoption of Kinship-Friendly policies within their organisations, including consideration of additional paid family leave to support kinship carers.

6. Kinship Advice Service for Scotland (KCASS) — a national “first stop” for kinship families

KCASS will be further embedded as a universal, nationally promoted route to clear, consistent advice and referrals, aligned with The Promise and local Children’s Services Planning.

Our commitments:

• National advice hub: KCASS acts as a national advice hub, providing timely, rights-based guidance, initial legal information and signposting to independent legal advice and coordinated referrals into local services (LA kinship teams, income maximisation, education, health, housing, third sector).
• Legal clarity: Provide accessible explanations of common legal routes (including Section 11 and looked after status) and their implications for Support.
• Outreach: A co-ordinated awareness approach to increase understanding of KCASS among kinship carers (including those in informal arrangements) and key professionals (social work, schools, health, advice agencies) using universal services and community channels to maximise reach.
• No wrong door: Clear referral and sign-posting pathways so local partners and KCASS can hand families off seamlessly, supported by agreed protocols and information-sharing arrangements to reduce unnecessary variation while allowing tailored, individualised advice.
• Inclusive access: Phone, web, and community outreach; accessible formats and languages; offline, jargon-free materials; and proactive engagement through schools and community settings to avoid digital exclusion or disadvantage; targeted campaigns for under-served groups (e.g. informal carers with no current LA involvement).
• Insight to improvement: KCASS provides anonymised data/insight on recurring issues (e.g. allowances, housing barriers, school supports) to inform national policy and local offers.
• Contribute to national learning: by sharing insights, trends and good practice emerging from its advice and support work, informing local practice and national policy development.