New guidance on support planning for Kinship families published
CoramBAAF are pleased to co-author a much needed and helpful guide for practitioners on support planning with kinship families. The guidance was informed by research co-produced by the University of Exeter, Kinship and a network of kinship carers who supported the project throughout. The guidance sets out the key principle that “a clear support plan is an important foundation for kinship care”. (El-Hoss, T., Thomas, F., Hughes, S., Raja, A., Horne, A. and Seth, C. (2026). Making a Support Plan: A Kinship Care Companion. University of Exeter, Kinship and CoramBAAF)
Despite this, their research sadly found that support plans for kinship carers are often “overlooked, rushed, or too generic to really meet a family’s needs”. (ibid) The guide therefore aims to support practitioners and kinship carers to write support plans that reflect each kinship family’s unique circumstances and the needs of the carers and children together. It sets out a checklist and key questions for thinking about:
- The child’s needs
- Support for the kinship carer
- Financial, housing and practical support
- Family relationships and contact
- Support networks
- Review and accountability
Alongside the guide for practitioners, there is also a guide for kinship carers to help them talk with practitioners about the support they and their kinship child(ren) may need, with a full and summary version to support accessibility.
CoramBAAF are delighted to be continuing work with the researchers and the network of kinship carers to inform our development work for a Kinship Assessment of Support Need and Support Plan (Form KS). We are currently meeting with a working party to inform our initial draft Form KS, and will then be consulting further with kinship carers, parents, children and young people, as well as practitioners, kinship researchers and other sector organisations before we pilot it in local authorities in the autumn. The development of Form KS follows our 2 year project that resulted in publication of Kinship Care Assessment (Form K), and Form KS will include the same support plan that is an integral and essential part of Form K. Our hope is that any kinship family could have a meaningful support plan that is reviewed and updated throughout their kinship journey, as needs evolve and circumstances change. Watch this space for updates on Form KS in the coming weeks and months!