UNSUNG CARERS WIN PROTECTION
City first to create charter of rights
LIVERPOOL has become the first place in the country to create a charter supporting the “unsung heroes” who care for the children of relatives or friends.
So-called “kinship carers” take in the children of parents who are no longer able to cope for a variety of reasons, which might include drug and alcohol abuse, bereavement, imprisonment or illness.
Kinship carers can be grandparents, aunts and uncles, neighbours and others and the support available to them from local authorities and statutory services varies enormously, according to the charity Kinship.
Cllr Frazer Lake, Deputy Mayor of Liverpool and cabinet member for children’s social care, said: “Kinship carers are very often our unsung heroes, not only because they care for children and young people, but because they help to keep family units together. “The new charter, which is a national first, clearly sets out what kinship carers can rightly expect from the council and from other services which might be commissioned, respecting the role they play in caring for and supporting children who may often be vulnerable.”
Pauline Thornley, project co-ordinator for Liverpool Kinship Carers, said: “Being the first city in the country to adopt a charter is a proud moment for all those families who have endlessly campaigned over the years to bring about change.”
Ian Byrne, MP for West Derby and member of the cross-party parliamentary taskforce on kinship care, said: “I look forward to highlighting this achievement nationally with all involved and using it as a template for kinship to roll out to other local authorities.”
It is estimated that there are about 180,000 children in the UK being looked after in a kinship family.
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