Download - The importance of kinship care (WS11)
Registered Scottish Charity No: SC016092
3,403 Contacts• 3,168 Calls• 235 Emails
• 66% of contacts are parents• 78% are female, 22% are male• 28% are single parents
January – December 2012
Who do they call about?
4,824 children and young people
33% aged 12 – 18 years
54% girls
43% boys
What did they call about?
• Behaviour/Discipline27%
• Family Relationships26%
• Contact/Residence 16%• Legal 15%• Kinship Care 15%
January – December 2012
• 365 days a year• Out of hours service
Monday – Friday 9 – 10pm
Saturday – Sunday 12 – 8pm
• Helpline• Email• Website• Ongoing telephone support• Call back facility
• Age Range 13 – 19 years• 25 calls relating to female children and 25 calls relating
to male children • 39 female callers (36 mothers, 1 grandmother, 1
professional, 1 family friend)• 11 male callers (7 fathers, 1 step-father, 1 grandfather, 2
family friends)
50 Call Sample 2012
Key Issues:
Aggression (verbal and physical)
22 callers talked about violence, with 11 mentioning police involvement and 17 worried about issues at schoolSubstance Misuse
5 callers mentioned drugs, 7 mentioned alcohol use
Sexual Activity
3 calls concerned about the safety of daughters
Other – 11 calls
Threat of suicide – Females 4, Males 2
Lying – Female 2, Males 0
Running Away – Females 2, Male 1
Background Information
Loss of a loved one – 10 callers
Divorce/separation – 12 callers
Financial Difficulties – 2 callers
Children being bullied – 2 callers
Quotes from Callers
“My daughter has a Jekyll & Hyde personality” (mum)
“My son is out of control” (dad)
“I don’t know what how to cope with their behaviour “
(kinship carer)
National Kinship Care Service
• Information, Advice and Support Service
– Confidential Helpline – ParentLine Scotland
– Policy Activity
– Outreach and Engagement
– Training and Skills Development
– Family Group Conferences (FGC)
Policy Activity
• Advocating on behalf of kinship carers to
influence and inform national policy agenda on
kinship care
– Children and Young People Bill
– Scottish Government Financial Review
Outreach and Engagement
• Visiting and learning from kinship care groups
• Annual Regional Forums
• Big Day Out 2012
• CHILDREN 1ST AGM 2012 – focus on kinship
care
Training and Skills Development
• Workshop Programme – kinship carers and local
authorities
• Newsletters, Factsheets and Information
• Podcasts and Videos
Family Group Conferences
• Empowering Families
• Drawing on strengths of wider family and friends
in deciding how best to care for a child
• Child Centred
What information and support parents and carers want?
• To talk, be listened to and to be understood
• Reassurance that they are doing their best, they are not bad parents, and are trying to do the right thing
• Sometimes they want to know they are not alone, that other parents have similar experiences
• Often looking for suggestions, hints and tips, strategies
• To be signposted to other organisations who can provide specific information
• They want to help to improve situation for their children and family
• Want to be clear about where to get help when they need it
Contacts
• Lisa Marshall
Kinship Care Policy and Outreach Worker
0131 446 3983
• ParentLine Scotland
08000 28 22 33
