Types of kinship care

Not all kinship care arrangements are the same. The type of arrangement you have can affect the decisions you can make for the child, your legal responsibilities, and the support available to your family.

This page provides a brief introduction to the main types of kinship care arrangements. For more detailed information, see our kinship local offer booklet.

Informal kinship care 

This is when the child's parent chooses for their child to live with you. You do not have parental responsibility but you can make everyday decisions. The council is not closely involved, and there is no court order in place.

Private foster care

This is when a child under 16 (or under 18 if they are disabled) lives with you for more than 28 days, and you are not a close family member. Close family means a grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother, sister or step parent by marriage. You and the child's parents must tell the council of this arrangement. We will do a short assessment to make sure the child is safe. The parents still have parental responsibility but you can make everyday decisions.

You can find more information and how to contact us on our private fostering web page.

Connected person (formal kinship foster care)

This is also known as family and friends foster care. This is when the council assesses and approves you to become the child's foster carer. You will be given a fostering allowance to help you to support the child. The council shares parental responsibility with the child's parent. 

You can find more about foster care allowance on the GOV.UK website.

Kinship care with legal order

Special Guardianship order (SGO) 

This is a legal order from a family court. When you become a special guardian, the child will live with you until they are 18 years old. You share parental responsibility with the parents, but you can make most big decisions without asking them.