Relatives left to cope alone with children dumped by parents
A “DUMP and run” attitude towards grandparents struggling to bring up young grandchildren is pushing them to breaking point, warns a hard-hitting report out today.
More than 200,000 children abandoned by their parents are being raised by kinship carers – grandparents, aunts or uncles.
But unlike those on foster care or children’s homes, they do not qualify for any support, either financial, educational or with any mental health issues.
Now campaigners are calling for the introduction of a Kinship Care Act to protect the youngsters.
Lucy Peake, chief executive of charity Grandparents Plus, said: “The Government needs to take a lead in ending the dump and run approach to kinship care.
Broken
“Kinship carers play a vital role in raising children who would otherwise be in local authority care, but the system is broken and unfair and too many children and carers are being pushed off a cliff with no support.
“Frontline social workers are doing their best, but resources are conspicuously missing. The Government needs to stop turning a blind eye to 200,000 children in kinship care and accept its guidance is not enough.”
Family and friends become kinship carers, saving councils money, because birth parents cannot look after their children. They maybe drug addicts, neglectful or suffering from mental health problems.
Cathy Ashley, chief executive of Family Rights Group said many carers felt pressurised by local authorities into giving up work, even though this pushed them into poverty, or they felt coerced into agreeing to a particular legal order for the child, even though it JENNY Bentley and her husband Philip, 66, a gas engineer, found their retirement plans derailed when they were asked to look after their grandson.
This was in 2011, and their grandson Tyler was only six. The former nurse, 63, from Leeds, said: “There was no way we were going to let him go into care. We provided a bed and all the practical things, but over the years we struggled to get the specialist support he needed. Because he came straight to us without going into foster care he isn’t
led to a loss in support. Currently, there is only statutory guidance. Care is determined by legal orders and most carers have no entitlement to support.
A survey by Grandparents Plus highlights how relatives have to act quickly in a climate of crisis and fear. More than half (53 per cent) were given no notice.
In 70 per cent of cases, carers were told the children would be taken into care if they did not step in. Judith Blake, of the Local classed as ‘looked after’. If you’re a looked-after child there’s a payment to the schools to put additional support in place. But he couldn’t have that. If you’re a foster or adoptive parent, you can get financial and emotional support. But he couldn’t have that either.
“We felt like we’d been let down by the system and we didn’t know where to turn.
“I couldn’t help his mental health with love alone. He needed additional support and the fight I’ve had to go through to get it has been exhausting.”
Government Association, said: “Demand for child protection services has increased significantly while councils’ budgets to support children and families continue to be under increasing pressure, with money being diverted to protect those children at most immediate risk of harm.
“Extra funding for next year will help, but Government needs to ensure that councils receive the long-term, consistent funding they need.”