New Form K (Kinship Care Assessment) Wales (2026)
CoramBAAF is excited to publish the new Form K (Kinship Care Assessment) Wales (2026). The change in name from Form C to Form K reflects the national policy reform agenda, and a growing awareness of the complexity and importance of kinship care when children can’t remain at home with their parents.
The new assessment amplifies the voice of the child and focuses on the relationship between them and the prospective kinship carer, drawing out strengths and highlighting support needs. It enables a relationship-based and reflective assessment process that gathers and analyses the information required to inform decisions about a child’s future care.
Form K (Wales) is published just over a year after the publication of Form K (England). During the two-year development project for Form K (England), we consulted with our members through surveys, a working party and focus groups, as well as with kinship carers, parents, researchers and other stakeholders to inform the design of Form K. We then piloted it in 10 English local authorities prior to publication. We have more recently worked very closely with colleagues at AFKA Cymru and piloted Form K (Wales) in seven Welsh local authorities to test its fit for Welsh law, culture and language. Form K (Wales) is available in both Welsh and English.
The form can be used for both approval of kinship foster carers and to make recommendations for special guardianship orders; it is compliant with relevant Welsh law, regulations and statutory guidance. It includes an integral support plan and detailed guidance, including on how and when to use Form K (Wales) support plan and when to use the All Wales Special Guardianship Support Services Plan which is available from AFKA Cymru and will soon be endorsed by Welsh Government. Form K (Wales) also includes guidance if you are thinking of a child moving to a kinship carer overseas.
Included with Form K:
- Form K (Kinship Care Assessment) Wales (2026)
- Form K (Kinship Care Assessment) Wales (2026)
- Form K (Kinship Care Assessment) Wales (2026) & Support Plan Guidance notes
- Form K (Kinship Care Assessment) Wales (2026) Appendix 1 – Legal compliance
- Form K (Kinship Care Assessment) Wales (2026) Appendix 2 – Overseas questions and guidance
- Form K (Kinship Care Assessment) Wales (2026) Prospective kinship carer information sheet
- Form K (Kinship Care Assessment) Wales (2026) Parent information sheet
A PDF version of both Form K (Wales) and Form K (Wales) Support Plan will also be available. The PDF version should be shared with prospective kinship carers at the start of the assessment process. Information should also be shared with them about what can be expected during the assessment process.
If your organisation holds a CoramBAAF Forms Licence for Form K (Wales), this will also give you access to other CoramBAAF forms, including the checks and references resources. Please note, if you currently hold a licence to access Form C (Wales) your licence access will automatically include Form K (Wales).
Which form should I use?
If your local authority is currently using CoramBAAF’s Form C (Wales), please note that this form will no longer be licensed following publication of Form K (Wales). At point of publication of Form K (Wales) (May 2026), if you are midway through an assessment using Form C (Wales), you may complete the assessment using Form C, but all new assessments should ideally be completed using Form K (Wales).
Our publication Undertaking a Kinship Care Assessment: A guide to collecting and analysing information for Form K (England) provides advice and guidance about how to gather relevant and proportionate assessment information to complete robust and evidence-based assessments of prospective kinship carers and identify support needs to mitigate risk and vulnerabilities. You can use this alongside Form K (Wales) as the vast majority of the book’s content is relevant in Wales, but there is a free supplement that sets out the additional or different information that is needed to use the book in Wales; this mainly relates to the law or to the usage of both Form K (Wales) Support Plan and the All Wales Special Guardianship Support Services Plan.
What is different about Form K?
For more information about Form K (Wales) and the assessment process, you can watch the recording of our briefing webinar: Kinship Care Assessment (Form K) Wales: Briefing session
The webinar covers:
- Key principles underpinning Form K (Wales)
- Overview of the development work that informed the design of Form K (Wales)
- Structure of Form K (Wales) including the use of the support plan and the All Wales Special Guardianship Support Services Plan
- Introduction on how to use Form K and accompanying guidance
How to complete a kinship care assessment
AFKA Cymru offers training on completing kinship assessments that references Form K.
Do you have any questions? We recommend you take a look at our ‘Frequently asked questions ’. If you can’t find your answer, and your question is a practical one about forms access and/or licence agreements, please contact licences@corambaaf.org.uk.
If you have a specific question about a practice matter that you need support with, CoramBAAF members can contact the CoramBAAF Advice Line on 0300 222 5775 (Mon–Fri, 9am–1pm), send a message, or Request Advice or Information from AFKA Cymru.
Ann Horne, Kinship Consultant, CoramBAAF.
Clare Seth, Kinship Consultant, CoramBAAF