An exploration of kinship carers' experience and stories

Context: Kinship care for children in care has increased in the past years in many countries across the world. Formal kinship care arrangements have been favoured by children social services over unrelated foster care due to the positive child outcomes. However, research has found that kinship carers have been ‘invisible’ to social care services, facing significant difficulties. This review critiques and synthesises the existing literature exploring formal kinship carers’ experiences and perceived challenges.

Methodology: Ovid Full Text Journals, Wiley Online Library, MedLine, PsycArticles, PsycInfo, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scolar were searched for relevant studies. Eleven eligible papers, comprising five qualitative, three quantitative descriptive, and three mixed methods studies were included in the review. The MMAT appraisal tool was used to assess their quality. Findings were then synthesised using a narrative approach, and themes were derived from the data.

Results: Eight studies explored kinship carers’ experiences and three studies investigated outcomes of depression and distress. Themes were identified from the studies:‘transition to a restricted lifestyle’, ‘sense of increased responsivity towards troubled kinship children’, ‘deterioration of physical and mental wellbeing’, ‘managing complex family dynamics’, ‘experiences of microaggression and unfair treatment from services’, and ‘social isolation and sense of rejection’.

Implications: Recommendations are made that a package of support should be offered to all kinship carers by social care. Clinical psychologists should support this group at individual and systemic levels, by providing individual therapy, working closely with social care staff, and impacting policies. Future directions of research are also discussed.