Kinship care

Argyll and Bute has a general duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in their community who are in need. This means that kinship carers and the children for whom they are caring can ask for assistance under this provision.  Formally this input is called Kinship Assistance and may also include financial assistance, known as Kinship Allowances.  Examples of the kind of help offered are:

• Advice and Guidance regarding difficulties the carers may be having in meeting a child’s needs 

• Support to apply for benefits

• Signposting to other support services

• Financial assistance, in the form of a one off welfare payment eg for essential items for the child;  or ongoing kinship allowances

• Opportunities to meet up with other carers and benefit from peer support

Argyll and Bute Council may provide financial support via a Kinship Carer Allowance to carers who are caring for:

• a child who is subject to a Section 83 Supervision Order from the Children’s Hearing

• a child who is placed with the carer under Section 25 (that is a voluntary arrangement where the child’s parent is agreeing to the child staying with the kinship carer) 

• a child who is subject to a “Permanence Order”

• a child who is not under the previous legislation (a “looked after” child) but is subject to a Kinship Care Order, and is or was:

  • previously looked after

  • at risk of becoming looked after

In addition:

• The child must be resident full-time with the kinship carer

• The child’s parent(s) must not be resident at the same address

If you are unsure if you are eligible or wish further information please contact social work services, family placement team, using the contact details below.

In order to be considered for the allowance, kinship carers who meet the criteria outlined above must undergo an assessment by a social worker. This assessment will look at the kinship carer’s circumstances in detail including any previous involvement with the police or social work services; the carer’s health in relation to how it might affect the ability to meet the child’s needs; the carer’s own background and experience of being a parent and how the carer would parent the child; the carer’s relationship to the birth parent and the implications of this for the child; the carer’s ability to keep the child safe and to promote the child's health and development.  This information is then considered by a panel set up for this purpose, and made up of representatives across children’s services.

Kinship carers who receive an allowance will have a social worker allocated to them who will be available to give advice and support to kinship carers on an individual basis. Kinship carers will be reviewed annually to consider any significant changes in their circumstances and/or any additional support needs. 

Finances and Kinship Care allowances

To avoid financial hardship it is important that all kinship carers be advised to contact their local Citizens Advice Bureau or welfare rights service for a ‘better off’ assessment at the earliest opportunity.

In Argyll & Bute, Kinship the carer allowance will be paid under the provisions of s50 of the Children Act 1975.  Carers will be eligible to claim Child Benefit, and will therefore be paid an allowance equivalent to fostering allowance, minus the carer’s component and child benefit.

Payment therefore will be:

It is important that kinship carers are made aware that being awarded a Kinship Carer Allowance from the local authority means they may be ineligible to claim tax credits for the child.

If a kinship carer is in receipt of any child related benefits, then the local authority will likely have to deduct these from the amount of allowance that it pays to the kinship carer.  This is to ensure the kinship carer is not applying for and receiving the money for the same reason from both the benefits agency and social work, which would be considered an act of fraud.

Kinship carer allowances will be paid 2 weeks in advance, 52 weeks a year unless the child is not in your care for a period of time.

The Council may meet the legal costs of applying for a Kinship Care Order where the kinship carer is not entitled to Legal Aid.  Entitlement to legal aid must be explored first. Further, agreement to cover legal costs must be approved in advance of an application to the courts.

Help and support

Download a copy of this Guidance on Kinship Care

Contact us:

Phone: 01546 605517
Email: fpduty@argyll-bute.gov.uk
Online: Social work enquiry form

National helpline for kinship carers: 08088 000 006

Useful websites:

• http://kinship.scot/ - National Kinship Care website for Scotland
• Citizens Advice

Complaints

All complaints are dealt with through our Social Work complaints procedure