Cash help plea as number of kids in kinship care soars
Support needed for family minders
The number of children being cared for by a family member who is not a parent has soared by more than 70 per cent in a decade, statistics have revealed.
In 2008, just 2399 children were looked after by a grandparent, aunt, uncle or sibling but that figure rocketed to 4103 in 2018.
It means the number of youngsters looked after by a kinship carer has jumped from 16 per cent to 28 per cent.
Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) chief executive Derek Mitchell, who runs a helpline for carers, has demanded more scope for them to access support.
He said: “This is a hugely important group within our community.
“They ensure stability and continuity for children who are often in vulnerable situations when their own parents are unable to care for them.
“That is important for the children, of course, but also hugely beneficial for society in general, as the children can remain within the family circle.
“These kinship carers take on a significant financial burden.
“We all know how costly it is to raise a child in any circumstances and kinship carers don’t always get the support they need, and often don’t know where to get it.”
The Kinship Care Advice Service for
Scotland received 1639 inquiries in 2019 – meaning the service provided an average of about £ 470 in financial assistance to each family.
It is estimated to have helped carers access almost £769,000 worth of support last year.
Mitchell added: “That’s why we have set up this service, which seeks to give them expert support and advice to enable them to do the vital work they do.
“Our advisers have managed to deliver nearly £ 800,000 to kinship carers across
Scotland. This is money they are entitled to, but had been unable to access without our help and may have gone without.
“So we are extremely proud of the work our advisers have done, and we are, of course, continuing those efforts into this year as well.”
Speaking ahead of Kinship Care Week, which starts tomorrow, children’s minister Maree Todd said: “We believe that the best place for a child to live, whenever a child needs to leave their birth parents, is in the wider family, if it is safe and in the best interests of the child to do so.
“We want Scotland to be one of the best places in the world for our children to grow up in and the Scottish Government is committed to making the Scottish care system the best that it can be.
“That is why we have been working with CAS and other stakeholders, including kinship carers, to raise awareness of kinship care and help deliver Kinship Care Week 2020.”