Wider family matters

Chapter 3: Research on family and friends care

Introduction

What we really need is a definitive answer to the question as to whether family and friends care is better than ‘stranger' care. We are still a long way from having this. Here are some of the reasons:

• Family and friends carers usually receive much less support than other foster carers, making comparisons more difficult.
• Much of the research has been in the USA, but the children in family and friends care in the UK tend to have had more difficult backgrounds.
• There has been no major co-ordinated research programme in the UK, and what studies there have been, have been quite small.

Long-term research is needed that compares similar people as adults who have been right through these different caring routes.

Despite these cautions about the research, what we do have are some very helpful findings about the experiences of the children and the carers and some other interesting findings about this type of care.

What children said about their experiences

In a UK study of children placed by Social Services with family and friends carers, children said:

• They felt happy and well cared for.
• They thought their carers were really committed to them.
• They felt secure even when they weren't clear about their legal status.
• It was really important to be able to stay at the same school.
• Some of them were aware that their carers were not getting the financial support they needed.
• They were positive about the contact they were able to keep with parents (usually their birth mother), though a small number found contact was upsetting and unreliable, with parents breaking promises.
• They welcomed contact with their siblings and other relatives.
• They would have liked more contact with their social workers and to have had fewer changes of social worker.
• Some wanted more information about services and about how decisions were made.
• Some of them wanted their carers to be trusted more by Social Services.
• They thought the assessment of family and friends carers should be more flexible, to encourage more of this type of care.

Many of these findings are similar to those of other studies on feelings of security, the importance of staying at the same school, and likelihood of contact with parents.

What carers said about their experiences

In the same UK study, this is what the carers said:

• Most of them experienced the initial placement as unplanned and chaotic, with little information about their rights, a lack of financial support, and difficulty accessing services.
• They were committed to helping the child or children because of their previous relationship with them.
• They were also motivated to help because they understood that children in public care or placed with strangers were not likely to do well.
• Some felt that their own decisions about whether to offer a home to the child were made more difficult because they had little involvement with the decisions or actions of Social Services.
• They would have liked better quality information on the legal options open to them.
• They welcomed the residence order allowance (residence orders were encouraged in one of the research authorities) and some would have liked to pursue the residence order option years earlier.
• The children's social workers were found by some carers to be unhelpful, too focused on monitoring, difficult to get in touch with, and tailing off their involvement after placement. There was also too high a turnover. In contrast, the family placement social workers whose job it was to support them, were viewed positively.
• Many found the assessment processes intrusive, demeaning and over-dominated by a risk mentality. They were uneasy about being approved as Local Authority foster carers but thought it was the only way to access services. They wanted a more family-friendly approach.
• They were committed to maintaining the child's contact with parents and other family members but needed more support to manage the complex family dynamics. Some grandparent carers experienced stress in coping with the changed relationships with their own children.
• The lack of financial support was a constant theme. Some carers got into debt and ended up in poverty. They did not expect to be paid income for what they were doing but did expect help with the significant expenses.
• They found services and support often disappeared after the initial placement period, and felt they were treated as ‘second-class foster carers'.

Other studies bear out such findings. For example, Family Rights Group's survey of grandparents found that at times grandparents had to put the interests of the grandchildren over the interests of other members of the family, including the child's parents, and this could be very stressful. It also found that financial sacrifices were considerable. The day-to-day care could be exhausting although grandparents stressed that the love between grandparent and grandchild was very rewarding. Another study found that families believed they had to manage independently. Broad found caregivers more positive about social workers who gave practical advice and support. In a well-known early study that influenced the approach to family and friends care in the Children Act 1989, Rowe found that there was a greater chance of maintaining contact between the child and birth parents if the child was placed in the extended family.

Other findings about family and friends care

The Government Review of the Child Care Proceedings System in England and Wales,²¹ states: "Research indicates that kinship care (with extended family or friend networks) provides children with greater stability than other types of care placement, in particular those involving children's homes or stranger foster carers." ²² This statement is supported by research carried out in the 1980s that informed the Children Act 1989. One of the principles behind the Act²³ was "If young people cannot remain at home, placement with relatives and friends should be explored before other forms of placement are considered." This principle can be found enshrined in the Act itself.

A study of looked after children in family and friends care in Scotland found, "...kinship care is the most helpful arrangement for some children who are unable to live with their parents". The study supports finding a more consistent way of financially supporting families and friends careres and developing a model of support in which children, families and social workers work together to identify the issues that need resolving.

Below are some further findings from three summaries of research. If you are interested to read about particular subjects in more detail, you will find references to individual research studies in the summaries.

Local Authorities

• There is a consistent theme of insufficient support for those who are kinship carers and the response to those who request help is variable.
• A recent study found that social workers initiated only 4% of family and friends placements.
• Social workers worry about the safety of family and friends care for the child while supporting it in principle.

The children

• Children entering family and friends care were similar to those entering non-related care, but the children placed with relatives were less likely to have prior emotional difficulties, multiple health problems, or a parent who had been in care. The behavioural and emotional difficulties during the placement were similar in a UK study by Farmer and Moyers (2006).
• Family and friends care placements last longer and involve fewer moves, although recent evidence from a number of studies suggests the picture may be more complicated.
• Findings are mixed as to whether children in family and friends care are more, or less, at risk of abuse.
• Some carers find it difficult to enforce rules around contact to keep children protected, although a UK study found family and friends carers were managing the supervision of contact with parents effectively and with considerable sensitivity.
• The Farmer and Moyers study of children placed with family and friends found that nearly half the children with the most serious difficulties were not receiving help, nor were their carers compensated for the extra financial costs.
• Children are more likely to be brought up in the same culture, religion, language, and/or ethnic group as their immediate family of origin.
• A US study that has looked at adult outcomes found very similar outcomes for the two types of foster care.

The carers

• Grandparents, aunts and uncles are the main providers of family and friends care.
• Carers gained positive benefits from caring - companionship, new interests and the satisfaction of seeing children develop.
• The quality of the vast majority of family and friends placements has been found to be good.
• Family and friends care is psychologically stressful for some carers. They need support with managing both the children's and the parents' behaviour.
• Relatives and friends who are carers are well placed to help children with their sense of self esteem and identity.
• Family and friends care builds on traditions of looking after one's own and sharing responsibilities among the wider family, which are very strong in some communities.
• Carers have to be persistent to be recognised as carers by those who should be helping, for example the school, Children's Services, and/or the various benefits agencies.
• They have to adjust to new ways of parenting in an age of mobile phones, new technology, greater recognition of children's rights and expectations of being open with children.
• The carers (and the child) may miss their previous role, when the carer could be an indulgent grandparent/aunt/uncle etc, now that they are in charge every day and have to set boundaries.
• Even if the carers think they are helping in a short-term crisis, it often turns out that they care for the children a great deal longer.

The experience at Family Rights Group of advising family and friends carers concurs fully with Joan Hunt's conclusions in her paper for the Department of Health.³² She wrote:

"What appears to be needed is a policy which reinforces the Children Act objective of keeping children within their extended families wherever this is in their interests but acknowledges and addresses the dilemmas and difficulties which that policy entails and enables it to be delivered for the benefit of children and their carers."

¹⁶ Jordan, L (2001) already cited
¹⁷ Richards, A ( 2001) already cited
¹⁸ O'Brien, V (1999) Evolving networks of relative care: some findings from an Irish study, in Fostering Kinship (ed. Greeff, R) (Ashgate, Aldershot)
¹⁹ Broad, B (ed) (2001) already cited

²⁰ Rowe, J et al (1984) Long Term Foster Care (Batsford, London)
²¹ Dept for Constitutional Affairs, Dept for Education and Skills and Welsh Assembly Government (2006) Review of Child Care Proceedings System in England and Wales (HMSO)
²² Harwin,J et al (2003) Making Orders Work which itself draws on studies by Rowe et al (1984), Millham et al (1986) and Berridge and Cleaver (1987)
²³ Dept of Health (1989) The Care of Children: Principles and Practice in Regulations and Guidance (HMSO)
²⁴ CA 1989 s.23 (6)(b)
²⁵ Aldgate, J and McIntosh (2006) Looking After the Family: a Study of Children Looked After in Scotland (Social Work Inspection Agency, Edinburgh)
²⁶ Doolan, M, Nixon, P and Lawrence, P (2004) already cited
²⁷ Hunt, J ( 2006 ) Substitute care of children by members of their extended families and social networks: an overview in Kin Matters (ed Ebtehaj, F, Lindley, B and Richards, M) (Hart Publishing, Oxford)
²⁸ Hunt, J ( 2003) already cited
²⁹ For example, Hunt, J (2003) already cited; Pitcher, D (1999) When Grandparents Care (Plymouth City Council)
³⁰ Farmer, E and Moyers, S (2006) Children Placed with Family and Friends: Placement, Patterns and Outcomes, Research Brief 2004102 www.dfes.gov.uk/research
³¹ Farmer, E and Moyers, S already cited

³² Benedict, M, Zuravin, S and Stallings, R (2006) Adult functioning of children who lived in kin versus non-kin family foster homes, in Child Welfare LXXV (5) 529-549

Back