Kinship Care Policy engagement

A New Kinship Care Policy for Barnet

In December 2023 the Government published its first National Kinship Care Strategy (Championing Kinship Care) which brings a welcome emphasis on kinship care.

In light of the new national strategy we are updating our Kinship Care Policy for Barnet, and we are currently seeking the views of our own kinship carers and children & young people who are in kinship care, asking them to help shape our policy.

What is Kinship Care?

Kinship care is when a child lives full-time or most of the time with a relative or close family friend, usually because their parents are not able to care for them. In the UK, there are more than 180,000 children in kinship care.

Grandparents are the most common kinship carers, but older siblings, aunts, uncles, and people who know the child well can also take on the role.

Your views are important to us

It is important that kinship carers and children and young people in kinship care have the opportunity to inform the design and delivery of our services and in particular this new policy.

If you are a kinship carer or a child / young person living with close family or friends we want to hear your views and have your input about the support we provide you.

How to have your say:

1. Complete one of our online questionnaires:

• if you are a kinship carer please complete our online kinship carer questionnaire
• if you are a child or young person in kinship care (ages 11 to 19) please complete our online young person kinship carer questionnaire. Please note, if you are 14 years old or under, please ensure you get the permission of an adult to complete the questionnaire, this can be an adult in your authority, for example a teacher, your social worker, an adult friend, or your kinship carer.
• In appreciation of their time and responses, children and young people completing the questionnaire can claim a £10 shopping voucher.

If you would like to request a paper questionnaire or another format, please:

• e mail samantha.speke@barnet.gov.uk, or
• write to us at Carer Support Team, Family and Children’s Services, London Borough of Barnet, 2 Bristol Avenue, Colindale, London, NW9 4EW.

If you would like someone to help you complete the questionnaires or need more information, please contact us using one of the above methods.

2. Attend a consultation meeting or group discussion

We will also be running in-depth group discussions with kinship carers from different backgrounds. Conversations will run on:

• Tuesday 10 September 2024 at 6.30pm: virtual group discussion
• Wednesday 11 September 2024 at 11am: Face to face conversation in Barnet.

We are offering a £20 shopping voucher to say thank you to those carers taking part.

If you would like to attend one of these events please contact samantha.speke@barnet.gov.uk

3. Creative call for 13 to 19 year olds in kinship care

We are inviting all 13 to 19 year old Barnet children and young people living with family or friends to take part in a creative project this summer between Wednesday 14 August – Thursday 12 September.

Take photos, shoot short videos or make drawings (whichever you like) of what it is like for you to live with your family or friends in kinship care and share them with us.

Some things you can draw, take pictures / videos of are:

• what family means to you
• things that are different because of living in kinship care and things that are the same
• things that help and people who help
• anything else you’d like to tell us about.

To find out more please read our FAQs and guidance notes in the document library on the right hand side of this page, or contact samantha.speke@barnet.gov.uk for more information.

What happens after the consultation closes?

The council will use the engagement findings to inform our new Kinship Care Policy and service practice. We will publish the results of the engagement, and how we are acting on the results of the consultation on this web page in January 2025.