Social services should provide extra support for kinship carers looking after teenagers, and develop drug prevention programs targeting adolescents and their families, according to a review into kinship care.
Commissioned as part of the EU Kinship Carers Project, the review also found kinship carers assuming full-time parenting responsibilities were at an increased risk of experiencing psychological distress.
Andrew Brown, programme director for drug prevention charity Mentor UK which published the review, said it found "risks associated with teenagers in kinship care placements" meant their carers needed extra support, while the whole family required targeted support around drug prevention.
Brown said the review, alongside the charity's needs analysis with kinship carers, gave "a very clear picture of what carers are looking for from services, and what will work in meeting those needs."
Recommendations set out in the review include:
- Decreasing psychological distress and improving the financial help and physical health of kinship carers.
- Child welfare services should provide specific support and monitoring to kinship carers of children with a background of parental substance misuse or abusive parents
- Interventions programmes should focus not only on behavioural, mental health and family relationships, but also on academic progress and school success.
- Child welfare agencies should include the schools as one of the ways to improve the kinship care families' support.
Leave a comment