Kinship offer - Information for Carers

• Informal kinship care arrangements are when a close family member or friend look after a child for a temporary or permanent amount of time.
• Kinship carers with a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) have parental responsibility for a child following an order made by the family court.
• Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) work’s independently from the child’s social worker to oversee and review care plans to ensure the local authority is acting in the best interests of the child.
• Kinship carers with a Child Arrangements Order (CAO). Child Arrangements Orders are granted by the family court and determine who a child can live with and/or who a child can stay with and for how long, carers will share parental responsibility.
• Kinship foster carers look after children who are Children in Care following a voluntary agreement, if a child’s in local authority care under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 or if a Care Order is made by the family court.

More detailed definitions can be found in Warwickshire’s full Kinship offer.