If you would have asked me, all those years ago if I knew what a kinship carer was? Like many my response would have been a definitive “no”. My partner of two years only learned what it meant, when he met me.
There is a definitive lack of awareness of Kinship Carers, a fact that when I first started my journey was unhelpful as I struggled to find information that would best advise me on what the future held for me and the little one who had experienced change.
My opinion on Kinship care remains the same as my reflection from a blog I wrote 5 years ago. “With many Kinship carers, you have no idea what that means until you become one”
So what is a Kinship carer officially?
A Kinship carer is a family member who takes on the role of a parent when their biological parents are unable to do so. The circumstances can be different for all kinds of carers and their families. Some become Kinship carers, due to the death of the child’s biological parents, drug use and mental health issues.
Isn’t that the same as foster carers?
No, it is not the same as foster carers. Kinship care is an alternative to foster care, it means the child/children can remain with a family member or in some cases a very close family friend. It is the preferred way as it means the child remains in the family unit. There are more differences which we will explore further and in more detail in the next few blogs.
So why start a blog you ask?
I have started this blog as a way to reach out to fellow Kinship carers and share my own experiences in the hope that many can relate and feel understood. I also hope in time it will help shed some light on the many difficulties we carers face and open the barrier of discussion with non-carers so we feel more understood as a group.
Rest assured this will not be a doom and gloom type of reading, it will be real and honest but never gloomy.
Without further ado, let’s get started!
Confessions of a Kinship Carer 