Responding to the Needs of Kinship Carers in South Australia

In South Australia, 50% of all children in state care live with kinship carers, comparted to 55% nationally, with numbers growing. The majority of this kinship care is done informally, without statutory support or official recognition. Kinship care is particularly important for Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and CALD families to ensure that children and young people remain connected to culture. The current study investigated the importance of understanding and supporting unique needs of kinship carers to enhance the quality of care for children. Utilising semi-structured interviews with 34 formal kinship carers, several key findings emerged as vital including redefining success, trauma-responsive support, care quality, collaboration, flexibility and trust. Several recommendations were put forth: prioritising the voices of children and kinship carers, supporting the establishment of specialist kinship teams, and providing clear and robust professional development and capacity building pathways for carers and the workforce.