Brief guidance on international kinship care
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Written by colleagues from the Children and Families Across Borders service (CFAB).
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More children are on the move than ever before and increasing numbers of multinational and foreign-national families in the UK. For the last 18 years, 25 – 30% of children born in England and Wales have had a foreign-born parent, indicating a potential for family overseas.[1] When a child cannot be cared for by their parents, the first choice of alternative care, if appropriate, should be with extended family and those with a kinship bond. A child’s right to preserve his or her identity, to be provided with appropriate alternative care, and for all actions to account for the child’s best interests, are enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 3, Article 8, and Article 20) and the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children (2009). When a child is deprived of parental care but has extended family members residing in another country, the same principles apply, even if the placement must be coordinated across international borders.
This is an abbreviated version of the International Kinship Care Guide, produced by Children and Families Across Borders (CFAB) and the Cross Border Child Safeguarding Working Group. This guide has been adjusted to support this guidance and sets out:
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Defining kinship care
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Process
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During proceedings
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Resources
Without comprehensive national guidance for the family justice system, it cannot be expected that international kinship care will be widely considered. This guide aims to complement and build upon existing guidance to:
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Achieve the best possible outcomes for children
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Minimise placement breakdown
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Address concerning practice
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Ensure that the placement of children overseas is recorded appropriately
[1] Based on ONS data on children born in England and Wales to a foreign-born mother, 2006 – 2023.
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Defining Kinship Care
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Kinship care is a term used in the United Kingdom to describe the raising of children by extended family members and significant others with whom the child has a close family-like relationship. Kinship placements are usually considered when parents are unable to care for their child(ren). Kinship care may be a permanent arrangement, usually formalised through a legal order or a temporary and informal arrangement made privately amongst family members, often initiated by the parents.
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Process - Pre-proceedings
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​A broad range of information should be gathered, and any legal issues should be clarified before proceedings – including routes to permanency and initial screening assessments. For example, a child’s citizenship(s) should be determined at an early stage as it will impact their status as an adult, their entitlement to statutory services, and the type of assessment required. The immigration status of the prospective carer in the country where they reside should also be checked. Overseas social service record checks and police checks of the potential carer(s) are also best undertaken during pre-proceedings, as the process for obtaining these may be lengthy.
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Legal Aid/entitlement to legal assistance ​
If the placement is to last at least until the child reaches 18 years, and placement breakdown is to be avoided, it is essential that the local authority and the prospective carer understand the implications of what happens if things go wrong as well as what legal services they can access locally. Potential carers should also be informed of their right to challenge the outcome of the assessment.​
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During proceedings - types of assessments
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For this document, the terms “full assessment” or “kinship assessment” are used interchangeably to cover all types of complete assessment of an overseas carer used to determine suitability for the care of a child currently in the UK. This term is used to differentiate from initial screening assessments which do not assess the carer and their capacity to care for the child in full. A full explanation of what is covered under this definition can be found in the Glossary of this document. It is worth noting that although good practice dictates that local authorities should be considering full assessments at this stage, some local authorities may need to commission initial screening assessments during proceedings if they have not yet taken place.
Before any full assessment is commissioned the views and wishes of the children must be considered. This process is critical when a child has lived in the UK for some time and may have significant others, including the parents, with whom they are close (i.e. siblings, half-siblings, stepsiblings, friends etc.). Depending on the child’s capacity, they or the local authority should obtain legal advice on the implications of the placement on immigration and nationality. Legal aid is available for children in care for immigration matters, this includes advice on immigration, nationality and EU matters. The child will need advice both on their status and the impact of the placement on immigration and nationality rights in the future.
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Access to support
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Local authorities should inform kinship carers of their right to request assessment for support which, in some circumstances, can include ongoing financial support. The placement plan should identify who (UK local authority or Overseas authority) is responsible for any support provided. The plan should also make clear the support expected from the carer, for example, school tuition fees and medical insurance, if applicable.
Once the placement is made, the placement plan should detail what support will be provided and a mutually determined cut-off date based on the child’s needs. There are currently no legal requirements determining the length of time for which the UK local authority should retain responsibility for the child after an international placement is made. In the absence of these requirements, it is good practice to agree on a period sufficient for the child and carer to settle into the placement, but also to identify any additional challenges or needs. In England, Special Guardianship support is the responsibility of the placing authority for three years. Given the additional risks associated with an overseas placement, the local authority may be involved for longer as it is their duty of care to the child to ensure they are in a good placement.
Local authorities should also provide information as to what services the child can access in future as a former Looked After Child (if applicable). Assumptions should not be made that the country will have a similar system to the UK of continuous care beyond childhood. Consideration should be given to the child’s eligibility to maintain their UK citizenship and obtain citizenship in the country where they are placed. Many countries will allow the child to maintain dual citizenship until they reach a certain (adult) age when they must choose one.
Contingency planning should be executed between the UK local authority and the receiving authority in which the overseas kinship carer is resident. This should aim to make provisions for which authority will take responsibility for the child if there is a placement breakdown within a specified amount of time. Consideration should be given to the capacity of the receiving country’s social services system to safeguard the child if the placement were to break down. Plans should also consider what services children, and their carers would be entitled to since many countries only provide support for their citizens. At the same time, systems should not be assumed insufficient if they are simply different to those in the UK.
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Recognition and/or mirroring orders
At an early stage, specialist legal advice should be sought about the recognition and enforcement, or ‘mirroring’ of orders in the other country to ensure that, if the child is placed abroad, the guardianship of the child will be legally recognised. The carer(s) should seek to obtain legal parental responsibility. Without parental responsibility, carers may face difficulty accessing social benefits, education or medical treatment for the child placed with them. It is not always the case that the parents’ parental responsibility is removed and, in cases where it is retained for the parents, it is always advisable that the carers have primary legal parental responsibility.
Each country varies in how they approach the legal recognition of UK orders and confirming parental responsibility. Court orders made in the UK for placement in a country that is a signatory to the 1996 Hague Convention should be automatically recognised. Additional steps can be made to make sure this recognition is certain. An order can be made in the country where the child is placed to ‘mirror’ the order made in the UK. This is an option for countries not covered by the 1996 Hague Convention. Examples of the varying processes in different countries for mirroring or recognising UK orders can be found in the complete International Kinship Care Guide, p23-25.
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Resources
This guide is designed to supplement the range of existing guidance including:
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Cross-border child protection cases: the 1996 Hague Convention departmental advice for local authorities, social workers, service managers and children’s services lawyers (2012) – Department for Education (DfE)[1]
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Advice on placement of Looked After Children across Member States of the European Union (2013) - DfE[2]
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Working with foreign authorities: child protection cases and care orders (2014) - DfE[3]
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The Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations Volume 2: care planning, placement and case review (2015) – DfE[4]
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Initial Family and Friends Care Assessment: A good practice guide (2017) – Family Rights Group[5]
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Recommendations to achieve best practice in the child protection and family justice systems: Special guardianship orders (2020) – Public Law Working Group[6]
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Kinship Care: Statutory guidance for local authorities (2024) – DfE[7]
[1] Department for Education (2012), Cross-border child protection cases: the 1996 Hague Convention departmental advice for local authorities, social workers, service managers and children’s services lawyers [online] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/28 0834/The_1996_Hague_Convention.pdf
[2] Department for Education (2013), Advice on placement of Looked After Children across Member States of the European Union [online] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/84 1196/placement_of_looked-after_children_in_eu.pdf
[3] Department for Education (2014), Working with foreign authorities: child protection cases and care
orders [online]
[4] Department for Education (2015), The Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations Volume 2: care planning, placement and case review [online] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/44 1643/Children_Act_Guidance_2015.pdf
[5] Family Rights Group (2017), Initial Family and Friends Care Assessment: A good practice guide [online] https://www.frg.org.uk/images/Viability_Assessments/VIABILITY-MASTER-COPY-WHOLEGUIDE.pdf
[6] Public Law Working Group (2020) Recommendations to achieve best practice in the child protection and family justice systems: Special guardianship orders, [online] https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/PLWG-SGO-Final-Report-1.pdf
[7] Department for Education (2024) Kinship Care: Statutory guidance for local authorities, [online] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/670d3ed5e84ae1fd8592f2fa/Kinship_Care_-_statutory_guidance_for_local_authorities__October_2024.pdf
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Family Group Decision-Making / Family Group Conferences
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The 2014 PLO statutory guidance highlights the importance of enabling wider family members to contribute to decision making where there are child protection or welfare concerns, including where a child cannot remain safely with birth parents, as an important part of pre-proceedings planning. The Working Together Practice Guidance, 2023 Working together to safeguard children 2023: statutory guidance explicitly references family group conferences (FGC) as a successful family group decision-making model within the pre-proceedings process and that a key aspect of the FGC is that the family has access to an independent coordinator for such meetings.
Family group decision-making meetings, such as FGCs, are an important means of involving the family early so that they can provide support to enable the child to remain at home or look at alternative permanence options for the child. What makes the FGC model different from other social work interventions is that the FGC coordinator is completely independent, the family have private time to come up with their own plan and that the local authority needs to support the family plan and assist them in implementing it, unless there is a concern that the family plan leads to risk to the child.
The Department for Education is currently legislating to make the offer of a family group decision-making meeting mandatory. The allocated social worker should consider referring the family to their local authority’s FGC (or equivalent provision) service as early on in the family’s involvement with Children’s Services as possible to explore how the family can support the parents/carers with the child and to address the concerns. This is particularly important if the allocated social worker believes there is a possibility the child may not be able to remain with their parents, or in any event before a child becomes Looked After.
Different local authorities have different approaches in respect of gathering a parent or carer’s consent for an FGC to take place so please make sure you’re following your local authority’s consent process correctly. Whilst an FGC coordinator would do most of the preparatory work for the FGC, it is important that social workers approach any discussion about having an FGC with parents or carers in a sensitive, inclusive, and strengths-based way.
What makes a good Family Group Conference referral?
A thorough and detailed Family Group Conference (FGC) referral is important as it helps the FGC coordinator to prepare all those involved in the meeting to discuss and make a plan around the important issues. It is likely that the FGC coordinator will meet with the social worker to agree an agenda and the questions for the FGC. This will then be taken to the family and any amends are made or additional questions are added before the final version is agreed. Again, different local authorities have different approaches to the referral process so please make sure you clarify you are clear on your local authority’s own process.
Include information about the purpose of the FGC, for example:
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The family need to come together to make decisions about how to keep Johnny safe at home. Johnny is not always properly supervised at home and family support is required to ensure Johnny is safe.
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Ji Won is currently not able to live with her parents; she needs her family to make decisions about who within the family can care for her while his parents work through their challenges.
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Outline the strengths of the children and family, including the strengths of individual family members if you can, to help the FGC coordinator to maintain a focus on strengths in the preparation stage of the FGC.
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Include a genogram of the family and extended network to help the FGC coordinator to understand the family relationships and context relevant to the meeting.
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Clearly set out the risk, safety and wellbeing challenges that need to be addressed within the FGC. These include safety and risk worries, as well as wellbeing challenges, the current situation and work you have done with the child and family. Providing this information supports the preparation discussion with the family. It is important that they are framed in a way that avoids blame.
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Providing the non-negotiables/bottom line guide the focus of the FGC and therefore must be about the needs of the child. The bottom line explains what needs to change at a minimum to address the safety and well-being of the child or young person. They should be child-focused and address what the child needs to meet their safety and wellbeing needs rather than what the family needs to do. For example:
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Johnny needs to live in a safe and loving home where there is always an adult available to keep him safe.
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Johnny needs his mum and dad to be well so he can grow and develop in a safe home.
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Johnny needs to go to school each day and have everything he needs to be able to learn.
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Johnny needs to strengthen his relationship with his family and connection to culture.
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Johnny needs be supported to attend all his medical appointments.
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Johnny needs to live with family members while he is unable to live with his mum and dad.
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Consider the family’s perspective and how they perceive the issues and potential solutions.
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Cultural beliefs and practices are the foundation of families. Include information about the child and family’s cultural background and any considerations required to support a successful FGC.
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Safety around domestic abuse will always be taken seriously. Split conferences can be held where this a concern with separate risk assessments to ensure anyone at risk is safeguarding through the FGC process. If there is a family/extended network member who is considered to be a risk to the child or someone else in the network, it is important to provide detailed information about the person and considered risk so that the meeting can be conducted safely. It is important that all family have a voice at FGC so it is helpful to provide alternative suggestions for how a participant might have their say if they cannot attend the conference. Alternative participation may include participation by phone, writing a letter or having another family representative attending provide information on behalf of the person who is unable to attend.
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Use accessible language, avoiding jargon or overly technical terms.
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Every child or young person has the right to an advocate to represent them at the FGC if they don’t want to attend themselves or it is not appropriate for them to attend. Include a request for advocacy within the referral so that relevant arrangements can be made in a timely way.
How to prepare the child and family for a Family Group Conference:
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Work with the family to identify key participants in the meeting, including extended family members, close friends, and others in their wider network and community who support their child.
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Be considerate and inclusive of diverse family structures, ensuring no one feels excluded.
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Meet the family members to build trust and explain the purpose, process, and desired outcomes of the Family Group Conference (FGC).
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Be transparent about your role and the parameters of decision-making within the meeting.
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Ensure that the child/children at the centre of the meeting understands the FGC process and explore with them and the FGC coordinator whether they would like to attend or whether it is more appropriate for an advocate to attend on their behalf to represent their views.
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Provide logistical support, such as transport, childcare, or interpreters if needed.
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Ensure participants understand what to expect and their role in the process.
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Assessing domestic abuse in the family court
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These resources have been developed in January 2025 by Liz Ostrowski, a practitioner who has been carrying out expert domestic abuse risk and vulnerability assessments for the Family Courts since 2016. The resources can be used independently but professionals are encouraged to consult with trained colleagues and experienced domestic abuse specialists within their local authority to reflect on their application of the resources and for ongoing peer support around effective family court domestic abuse assessments.
1. In-house versus externally commissioned assessments
This is a useful checklist that is equally relevant for social workers working with public law cases.
CAFCASS Aide Memoire on the appointment of experts: Appointment of Experts - Aide Memoire.pdf
Respect guidance on minimum expectations of expert assessors: PRIVATE and CONFIDENTIAL
This was compiled a number of years ago in relation to external expert assessors, but it can be used by social workers to recognise skills and knowledge they already possess, as well as training and support needs they require in order to undertake effective assessments in-house. It is also useful if the decision is made to commission an external assessor, to ensure that person meets these requirements, particularly understanding the nuance of complex power dynamics, rather than using a more generic psychologist:
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Assessors must be familiar with the dominant themes in the domestic violence literature (prevalence, implications of gender and social class, typologies, parental alienation etc). In particular, assessors must have an understanding of the nature and dynamics of domestic violence and its effects on women and children and demonstrate this in their assessments.
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Assessors must have a basic understanding of the legal and procedural framework of public and private law family court work (key statutes, standards of proof, findings of fact etc), and of the criminal justice system.
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Assessors must be familiar with the basic principles of risk assessment and with the limitations of existing risk assessment instruments and technology.
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Assessors must be familiar with the established and reputable risk assessment approaches
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Assessors must have an understanding of child development insofar as it relates to the assessment process, and a working knowledge of child protection procedures.
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Assessors must be familiar with the advantages and limitations of treatment approaches
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available for working with those who perpetrate domestic violence, including
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psychotherapeutic and psycho-educational interventions.
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Assessors must be familiar with the range of services provided by contact centres, and aware of the risks to children and their resident carer associated with both direct and indirect child contact.
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The assessor should be able to evidence their expertise in working with domestic violence offenders, preferably in both assessment and treatment settings.
DV Act, an independent external assessment agency, also provide guidance on expectations of safe and effective external assessors: How can you Ensure that you have a Qualified Expert for Family Court Cases?
2. Application of information relating to risk and vulnerability assessments into Social Work Evidence Template
The Social Work Evidence Template (social work statement for court) can usefully incorporate clear data and defensible analysis regarding risks presented by the abusive parent and vulnerabilities caused by the abuse to the non-abusive parent’s capacity to protect self and children. It also enables logical recommendations to be offered regarding interventions, support and other risk management strategies required for necessary change by either parent to take place, or clarity on why such change is unlikely to take place within reasonable timescales.
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The attached PDF has useful sections taken from the Social Work Evidence Template and provides prompts, in blue, to think about when compiling and presenting the summaries of evidence gathered for risk and vulnerability assessments within family court proceedings.
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This chapter is based on work completed by colleagues in CFAB, Camden Children’s Services and by Liz Ostrowski.​
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