Professor Elaine Farmer from the University’s Centre for Family Policy and Child Welfare and Dr Julie Selwyn of the University’s Hadley Centre for Adoption and Foster Care Studies have been commissioned by the Trust to conduct research into the experiences and outcomes of this group of children and their carers in order to gain an understanding of what is needed to improve their circumstances and outcomes.
An estimated 200,000-300,000 children currently live in informal kinship care, an invisible, disadvantaged population whose carers often have high levels of unmet need. These needs will be brought to public attention through this study.
The Frank Buttle Trust’s Chief Executive, Gerri McAndrew said:
‘We are delighted that the Big Lottery Fund is supporting this important work. Although the Trust’s core activity is grant-giving, we are also committed to influencing government and relevant statutory agencies to adopt appropriate policies and practices to meet their needs. We hope the findings of the research will provide strong evidence to improve the lives of children living with their kinship carers.’
Professor Farmer added:
‘This study will for the first time give a clear picture of how many children are living with kin, their health and finances. It will find out how well informal kin carers cope and what their needs are and will also explore children's views of the benefits and disadvantages of growing up with informal kin. The research will provide much-needed evidence about what would make these children's outcomes better.’