Kinship Care

• Kinship care is an arrangement for a relative or family friend to provide full-time care for a child who cannot be looked after by their parents. In other words, the child lives full-time with the kinship carer.
• Kinship care includes:
  • Looked After* children who have been placed with kinship carers by the local authority.
  • non-looked after children who live with kinship carers as a private family arrangement. The child may be subject to an order under Section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 or may be living with the kinship carer with no legal order in place.

* when used here, “Looked After “is a legal term that describes children who are in the care of the local authority.

Informal Kinship Care

• Informal kinship care also known as a private family arrangement, is where a child lives with a relative or family friend and the child is not legally “Looked After”. Many informal care arrangements with kinship carers are unknown to the local authority. In some situations, the child may have social work involvement under section 22 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 as a “child in need” but the child would not be “Looked After” in a legal sense.

Formal Kinship Care

• Formal kinship care is where the child has a legal status as 'Looked After' and is placed with relatives or family friends by or with involvement of the Local Authority. A Children's Hearing or court may place children in formal kinship care.
• Dundee City Council (or the Local Authority that placed the child) has duties and responsibilities for children in formal kinship care which are set out in law and government guidance.

Family Support

• In instances where a birth parent lives with their child in a relative/friend’s household or enters a shared care arrangement with a relative or friend, this is not deemed a kinship placement. The parent will still have legal responsibility for the child and can access alternative support as a parent.

Under rules introduced by the Scottish Government, from 1 October 2015 kinship carers are entitled to the same level of allowance as foster carers . Eligible kinship carers will receive such an allowance minus any benefits they can claim for the child such as a child benefit, child tax credit and universal credit. Kinship carers are able to claim for such benefits for a child in their full-time care, this is not the case for foster carers. 

Who Can Apply For Kinship Allowance / Financial Support?

The financial support that Dundee City Council provides, depends on how you become a kinship carer and/or the child’s care/legal status.

Kinship carers eligible for an allowance / financial support are:

• all formal kinship carers where the child is looked after by the local authority
• some informal kinship carers, where the child is not in the care of the local authority but is subject to a Section 11 Order (previously known as a residence order now a kinship care order), and is or was:
  • previously looked after by the local authority;
  • placed with involvement from the local authority; and/or
  • at risk of becoming looked after by the local authority

From 2015 Scottish Local Authorities have been required to pay kinship carers an allowance at the same rate as foster carers in their area. 

(as from April 2024)

In addition:

• 2 weeks additional allowance for Christmas
• 1 week additional allowance for birthday
• 2 weeks additional allowance for summer holiday activities

The payment kinship carers receive from Dundee City Council may be slightly different from the above as the overall kinship allowance may be made up from several sources such as child benefit, child tax credit, and universal credit. However the total amount received, i.e. kinship allowance + any eligible benefits, should amount to the totals above. 

Kinship payments can stop when a number of things happen:

• The placement with the carer ends.
• When the young person turns 18 unless they are still at school in which case the allowance will continue beyond 18 until the young person leaves school.

If you are a kinship carer who receives an allowance from Dundee City Council it is important that you let us know of any changes to your or the child’s circumstances that may affect the allowance such as if the child moves from your care. If you don’t do this and are overpaid as a result, you will asked to pay this back. 

Financial support towards legal fees is dependent on the child’s legal status and eligibility. If you believe you may be eligible for financial assistance toward the cost of reasonable legal fees, you should contact Dundee City Council’s Kinship Team. 

In all instances where financial support is requested you must first check your entitlement to Legal Aid.

If you are entitled to full Legal Aid this may cover the cost of the Kinship Care Order.

A Kinship Care Order which is often referred to as a residence order secures the child with the kinship carer through a legal order. 

One of the main advantages of obtaining a Kinship Care Order is achieving a more stable home environment for a child. Depending on the section of the Act* that the order is made, it will specify who the child should live with and may also grant parental responsibilities and rights to the kinship carer. This allows the kinship carer to make a range of decisions that a parent can make in relation to the child. 

Regardless of the status of the kinship placement (formal or informal) any carer can apply to court for a kinship care order.

* refers to Children (Scotland) Act 1995

• Kinship Care Advice Service for Scotland
• Citizens Advice Scotland
• Children 1st - charity that offers support with parenting and caring for children who have experienced trauma or neglect
• Aberlour Dundee - Charity that offers support with parenting, especially if children have been affected by drug or alcohol use in the family
• Kith 'N' Kin - charity who offer support to kinship carers and children they care for, including a support group for carers
• Dundee Carers Centre
• Relationship Scotland - can provide support with counselling, family mediation and child contact