Plans have been unveiled to strengthen the legal rights for eligible kinship carers and make it simpler and clearer to access support for them and children they care for. The move, if passed by MSPs, would make it easier for families to access financial, practical and advocacy support, by ensuring needs are considered in the round and linked to existing support routes.
Plans have been unveiled to strengthen the legal rights for eligible kinship carers and make it simpler and clearer to access support for them and children they care for.
Promise Minister Natalie Don-Innes introduced proposed Scottish Government amendments to the Children (Care, Care Experience, and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill as stage two consideration of the legislation got underway. The proposals would introduce a legal right for eligible kinship carers to be offered, and to request, a comprehensive needs-based assessment from their local authority, so families know what help they can ask for, how it will be considered, and can expect greater consistency across Scotland.
The move, if passed by MSPs, would make it easier for families to access financial, practical and advocacy support, by ensuring needs are considered in the round and linked to existing support routes.
The Bill already includes measures to enhance care and support for children in the care system, or who have left it. It forms a key part of the Scottish Government’s work to implement the recommendations of the Independent Care Review, known as The Promise.