About the new standard of kinship care assessment

By Ann Horne, kinship care consultant, CoramBAAF

There are an estimated 132,800 children living in kinship care in England (Kinship and Centre for Care, 2025).

In many such cases, family members step in to care for a child without the involvement of social workers.

However, a growing proportion of children in care – 16% in 2024, up from 13% in 2018 – are living with kinship foster carers and almost 4,000 children left care on special guardianship orders in each of the past six years, more than the numbers adopted.

When the local authority takes a child into care, it has a duty to consider whether a relative, friend or connected person can look after the child and then assess their suitability, before considering a placement in unrelated foster care (section 22C, Children Act 1989).

CoramBAAF believes children should be supported to live within their family network when it is safe to do so, and receive the support needed to thrive.

A new kinship care assessment

We have recently completed a two-year project to comprehensively review and update our assessment form for prospective kinship carers.

Previously called Form C (assessment of connected persons and family and friends), the name change to Form K was simple to do but reflects the complex policy and reform agenda and current language used.

Published in 2025, the new Kinship Care Assessment (Form K) enables robust and comprehensive assessment to inform decision making about a child’s future.

Reflecting the unique context of kinship care

We consulted with kinship carers to inform the design and development of Form K, and kinship carers were part of the project working party.

We know kinship carers often experience the assessment process as intrusive, and in our focus groups they told us they felt misunderstood and mistrusted. Some also told us though how they valued their relationship with their social worker, who had supported them through the bewildering process of becoming a kinship carer, often with little planning and preparation, as the child needed care at a time of family crisis.

Unlike foster carers or adopters, who often have months or years to make the life-changing decision to care for or adopt a child, many kinship carers are propelled into a system of fostering regulations and statutory guidance not designed for them, at a time of uncertainty, stress and anxiety.

The updated assessment form reflects the unique context of a kinship care assessment and we hope this will support practitioners to improve the assessment experience for kinship carers.

Amplifying the voice of the child

We know kinship care is a positive experience for many children as they often already know, love and trust their prospective carer.

It is essential therefore that the child’s voice is amplified and their wishes and feelings are central to the assessment of their prospective carer. Form K puts the voice of the child at the very start of the assessment, and requires the social worker to articulate the meaning of their relationship with their prospective kinship carer, to ensure this is a golden thread that runs throughout the assessment.

How is Form K different?

Form K encourages analysis of strengths and vulnerabilities, but crucially also asks what support might be needed for the child and prospective kinship carer to mitigate any assessed risks and vulnerabilities and includes an integral support plan.

It encourages relevant and proportionate assessment, and focuses on the analysis that will inform decision making.

Tested in practice and improved

From June to October 2024, we piloted Form K in ten local authorities, and sought feedback from social workers, managers, agency decision-makers, panel members as well as kinship carers themselves.

The practitioners and managers from the pilot local authorities met with us monthly and their questions and comments were invaluable in shaping the final version.

One agency decision maker described Form K as “succinct, clear, jargon-free and well-organised”. The local authorities told us Cafcass children’s guardians were positive about Form K assessments they had read, saying they were helpful and comprehensive.

A kinship family, who were assessed using Form K after a negative initial assessment that they challenged in court, stated: “We appreciate the time and effort our social worker has taken to get to know our family, and learn and understand our culture and traditions …..this is a big part of us that belongs in the assessment report.”

Form K – a lever for change

The 2023 national kinship care strategy states that assessment should be “reasonable, proportionate and treat family members with trust while prioritising the safety of the child”. Of course, an assessment form is only as good as the social worker completing it, and therefore the form can only be one of the levers needed to influence social work practice with kinship families.

We hope that Form K will enable a relationship-based and reflective assessment process that will support kinship carers at the start of their journey to feel supported and understood, and to receive the support needed for themselves and their child, so that the whole kinship family can thrive.

To find out more about Form K and the work of CoramBAAF please go to the CoramBAAF website.