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Local Kinship Offer

Glossary of terms used in Kinship Care

(WCC have a dictionary of care, all Kinship Carers should be provided with a copy of this)

Glossary of terms used in Kinship Care
Term What / who this is In a Kinship Carer’s words what this means for us
Kinship Care Kinship care aims to keep children within their existing support network, often with relatives or close family friends. Keeping a child you’re connected to (through both family and friendship) safe and living with someone they know rather than with strangers
Family Time Family time (which is sometimes referred to as 'contact') is about providing opportunities for children and adolescents in foster care to keep in touch with their family and friends, and other people who are important to them. Family time is usually when the child sees their parents or other close family members who aren’t allowed unsupervised contact – sometimes this is supervised by the local authority, sometimes by the Kinship Carer, depending on the situation.

Adoption Special Guardianship Support Fund

(ASGSF)

 A UK government fund providing financial support to local authorities and regional adoption agencies (RAAs) to pay for essential therapeutic services for adopted children and those under a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) or Child Arrangement Order (CAO) This means that Kinship carers can access psychological support if the child in their care has been previously looked after by the Local Authority.
Assessment You must pass an assessment by a social worker to become a kinship foster carer. They will ask for practical information and details about your parenting experience, relationships and childhood. All adults in your house will need to pass police checks. This is a vital part of the process to ensure the child will be living with someone who can keep them safe and prioritise their safety, health and wellbeing – it also ensures you will prioritise them over any existing relationships with the child’s parent(s).
SGO Support Plan

A planning tool that can be used after the initial assessment and planning process to set out the support provided to you, the child and their family.

The support plan is crucial to getting the support you need as a special guardian. It is an important document. It should clearly set out the support that will be provided to meet the child’s needs.

 This is only for Kinship Carers who go down the SGO route – which is optional – but if you do, it helps to clarify expectations both of you and others before agreeing to an SGO – you need to think about all future scenarios that may occur (good and bad) and ensure the support plan provides you and your child with the support you may need should any of these scenarios come to light. While you may initially think everything will be fine as you have strong relationship with the child’s parent(s), be aware that being a Kinship Carer will challenge you in ways you never expected, so considering and planning for all possible scenarios will help make things easier for you in the long-term to ensure you have the support you may need already in place.
SGO Support Plan Reviews A worker from the SGO Support Team will contact SGO carer via email the month that their SGO is granted to advise of their eligibility for a review. As the SGO is a private order the decision on whether to have a review is with the carer. Every SGO holder has the right to an annual review of their SGO support plan, but the carer has to request this – this is a good opportunity to ask questions and raise any concerns about how the current plan is or isn’t working.
Assessing Social Workers A kinship assessing social worker is a professional who evaluates the suitability of relatives, other connected people like close friends (Kinship Carers) to care for a child when the parents are unable to do so. This assessment involves gathering information about the prospective carer's capacity to meet the child's needs, ensuring the child's safety and well-being, and identifying any necessary support. The assessing social worker may have to share some very difficult information with you about the child’s parents and potentially wider family to ensure you are aware of all the potential risks to the child, as difficult as this may be, take heed, as unfortunately, there’s a high chance that what they suggest might happen in the future, however good your relationship is now, will happen – so it's their job to ensure you will prioritise the child’s safety above all else
Supervising Social Worker A Supervising Social Worker (SSW) in fostering is a qualified social worker who supports and supervises foster carers, ensuring they can provide a safe and nurturing environment for children in their care. They act as a key link between the foster carers, the fostering service, and the child's social worker, providing guidance, training, and support to help foster carers meet the child's needs and adhere to regulations. Someone you can turn to for advice on anything you are unsure of regarding your role as a Kinship Carer, including if you’re having difficulties with others in the local authority or family members /close friends of the child. You can share your concerns with them and they will provide you with advice and guidance and will support you when you need it.
Family Support Worker – Kinship/Fostering Family support workers play a crucial role in providing support to foster families. They offer practical and emotional assistance, guidance, and access to resources to help foster carers navigate their roles and ensure the well-being of the children in their care. Family support workers often supervise family time between the child and the parent / family member who is not allowed unsupervised contact with the child – they will update you as the Kinship Carer on how the family time session went and anything that may affect the child later in any way eg. What they ate during family time and anything that was said to them by their parent that may upset them when they think about it.
Children’s Social Worker Child and family social workers provide assessments, interventions and support to ensure the well-being and safety of children and families. Their focus is on the safety and wellbeing of the child – they are usually very good at interacting with children, however, your child’s allocated children’s social worker may well change quite frequently which can be challenging.
Family Support Worker – Children’s Team They work in families' homes and in community venues providing a range of interventions tailored to meet the needs of the child.  
Life Story Work Involves helping children understand their past experiences, especially separations from birth families, and build a positive self-image. This work is crucial for fostering a sense of identity and emotional well-being. It often involves creating a "life story book" or using other creative methods to explore a child's history, memories, and feelings. This can also provide the child with a physical ‘book’ to look at to see photos of their family members and friends which can both help and upset them when they’re missing parents, however, it does provide the child with a good background explaining why they are in kinship care – which can be difficult for a Kinship Carer to explain.
Fostering Panel Fostering Panel is a group of experienced professionals and carers who review the suitability of individuals to become foster carers for Warwickshire County Council. The panel makes a recommendation to the agency decision maker, who then decides whether to approve the applicants as foster carers. The people who decide whether or not you are ready / suitable to be a kinship foster carer – when you first agree to be a kinship foster carer, the fostering panel is usually the final stage of the official assessment process.

Financial And Benefits Assessment

(FABA)

 This assessment determines the level of financial support, if any, that the special guardian may be eligible for. This assessment only takes place if you choose to apply for an SGO and they use it to determine whether or not you’re financially able to support a child, but also to determine how much to offer to pay you as part of the SGO agreement if you haven’t agreed this amount separately.

Child In Care

(CiC)

 A child who has been in the care of the local authority for more than 24 hours is known as a child in care. The child you’re looking after is a child in care along with all other children in foster care, however, if you take out an SGO then the child is no longer in the care of the local authority, but once they have been a child in care, they may still be referred to as a child in care in some situations – this can provide access to certain support as they grow up that they would not otherwise have access to.

Independent Reviewing Officer

(IRO)

 IROs are social workers. All local authorities have a duty to appoint an IRO to every child in care. IROs are required to oversee and scrutinise the Care Plan of the child/ young person and ensure that everyone who is involved in that child’s/ young person’s life fulfils his or her responsibilities. You only usually see the IRO as part of the AAMR (All About Me Reviews) and they are there as an independent advisor to the local authority, but if you feel the need to speak to them outside of the AAMR, you can contact them directly.

All About Me Review

(AAMR)

 A meeting to ensure that appropriate plans are in place to safeguard and promote the overall welfare of the child in care in the most effective way and achieve long term care. This meeting is chaired by an IRO, independent reviewing officer, they supervise and scrutinise the care plan and everyone involved fulfils their responsibilities. Literally every professional involved in your child’s life will likely be invited to the AAMR – social workers, nursery / school representative, health care worker, you as the Kinship Carer, the child’s parent(s) and the IRO. This meeting can be quite difficult as a Kinship Carer if relationships within the family are ‘challenging’ as everything relating to your child’s situation is up for discussion. This is also where changes to the existing care plan including frequency of family time, who supervises family time etc. is often discussed.

Family Network Meeting

(FNM)

 Formerly known as Family Group Conference (FGC), is a family led meeting in which the family and friends network come together to make a plan for a young person. The initial FGC is usually scheduled to bring everyone together who is willing to make a commitment to support the child in some way. The intention is for all to agree together what each person will do (albeit words and actions don’t always align). Further down the line, the purpose of an FGC is often to bring key people (eg. family members and you as the foster carer) together to try to work through any difficulties and / or breakdown in relationships in an attempt to create more of a united front with a focus on the child’s welfare and maintaining family relationships and contact.
Virtual School

The Virtual School is a Local Authority service which promotes the education of Children in Care, previously in care, those with a social worker and those in formal kinship care.

Formal kinship carers, where there is an SGO or CAO, can contact the Virtual School directly for information and advice relating to education.

 The Virtual School supports current and former children in care, irrespective of which school they are (or are not) attending in Warwickshire. It’s a good resource for any carers with questions about the education of the child they’re caring for.
Agency Decision Maker The agency decision maker (ADM) reviews the foster carer report and panel minutes and decides whether to approve the applicants as Kinship Carers. NB/ My suggested text below is guesswork as I’m unsure if the ADM is what I think it is or not:
The person who reviews the fostering panel’s assessment report of you and makes the final decision on whether they feel you are a suitable candidate to be a kinship foster carer.
Care Plan A document that outlines the reasons a child is in care, the goals for their time in care, and their long-term plans. It details how the child's needs will be met, including health, education, and contact with family. Kinship Carers play an active role in shaping and reviewing the care plan. This will be referenced to a lot by social workers, so is a key document to keep to hand. It also includes lots of important reference information about your child and their parent(s) and explains why your child no longer lives with their parent(s). It also includes details around family time (when they see parents and other family members who have supervised contact and how often).
Delegated Authority The practice of granting foster carers the power to make everyday decisions for children in their care, similar to what a parent would do. While this is similar to what a parent would do, it doesn’t give you, as a foster carer, parental rights, so you (may) still have to get approval for things like cutting the child’s hair, taking them on holiday etc.
Pathway Plan A document that records needs, identifies actions to be taken, and resources that need to be put in place to support young people during their transition to adulthood. This is a commitment to support the child and details what support the child needs or may need in the future.
Placement Planning Meeting A meeting held before or shortly after a child is placed with a foster family to discuss the child's needs, the placement plan, and ensure everyone is prepared. As a Kinship Carer, this is often not the same as a mainstream foster carer, as Kinship Carers are often new to fostering and become Kinship Carers with a very short lead time. As a Kinship Carer, there is also a good chance that you may well have a better understanding of the child’s needs than the social workers.
Statutory Visit Visits that social workers are required to do, where a child is subject to a child protection plan, or where they are a child in care. The frequency of these reduces when a child remains with you for the long-term, but to begin with, these can be quite challenging to maintain if you also have a full-time job to attend (as many Kinship Carers do), but they are in place to ensure the child is safe and hopefully happy and comfortable living with you.
Supervision Fostering supervision involves regular visits and support from a dedicated social worker to ensure the well-being and safety of children in foster care and to support the kinship/foster carers. This is when your social worker visits you and they will run through the same questions each time, all relating to the TSDs to ensure all areas of the child’s safety and wellbeing are being considered and reviewed each time. These are designed to last two hours and take place frequently (every four weeks) to begin with, but again do reduce over time if your child remains with you for the long-term.
Training, Support and Development Standards (TSDs) These Standards have been adapted from the Training, Support and Development Standards for Foster Carers, to reflect the distinct role of Kinship foster carers. The areas that Kinship foster carers are required to evidence have been selected taking into account the nature and context of the kinship caring role. Kinship carers are expected to complete the standards within 18 months of approval (National Minimum Standards – Fostering Services: April 2011). The kinship TSDs can be quite daunting in terms of time commitment and the need to complete them within 18 months if you’re working full-time as well as looking after your child. However, the various free training workshops and courses on offer and included as part of the mandatory requirement can be really helpful and provide you with useful techniques and insights that can help you to better understand and support the child you are looking after. If you go on to complete skills level 1 (which the TSDs are a key part of) you will gain new skills, knowledge and insights which can be both useful and helpful , but can also be financially beneficial to you as a Kinship Carer.
Family Information Service (FIS)

Help you access information and services that can support you.

Warwickshire County Council - Children and families

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Types of fostering