Understanding and responding to the needs of kinship families from Black and Asian communities

Working in partnership with Kinship and supported by the KPMG Foundation this study will focus on kinship carers from Black and Asian communities, using interviews and standardised measures to better understand their experiences and needs and provide recommendations for practice and policy.

Black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups make up an estimated 32% of children living in kinship care (Wijedasa, 2015), yet little is known about the needs and circumstances of these kinship carers.  Despite increasing attention to kinship care, the needs of minority ethnic kinship carers have lacked visibility.  That lack of visibility is likely to be because of language and cultural barriers, racism, the reluctance and fear of minority ethnic communities to engage with services and fear of removal of the child who is in their care.   This study seeks to address the gap in contemporary research on the experience of kinship carers in these communities.