Above: image from our Virtual Gallery and our member VOYCE Whakarongo Mai
We’re flying the flag for kinship care, internationally
Kinship care – where children are cared for by family members other than their parents – is a lifeline for approximately one in ten children globally. It is the most widely used care option for those unable to remain with their parents, and children often prefer it over other alternatives, such as institutions. But despite its significance, policymakers and practitioners largely neglect it, placing children at risk in a number of ways.
As a global alliance, we are leading and championing kinship care, because we believe that, with the right support, it’s a form of care that can transform millions of lives for the better. Our commitment has driven us to undertake extensive research, uncovering the challenges faced by kinship families and identifying crucial barriers to kinship care working well in supporting children and young people to thrive.
Our advocacy work has been key, and has helped us press multiple governments for better support for kinship families. In a groundbreaking move in recent months, we launched an international guidance paper, a comprehensive tool to help improve global kinship care. This major resource features over 40 examples of promising practices from around the world, and will help us to campaign more effectively for the change we want to see. It’s about bringing kinship care into the forefront of the minds of policy and decision makers and governments alike, to help them better understand the benefits of kinship care, and the factors to consider to best support it as a form of care.
The full set of guidance has been endorsed and shared globally. You can also read a summary version over here. Thanks to our network of expert practitioners, and thanks to the generous backing of our supporters, we have become an internationally recognised advocate for kinship care, and our research has been shared globally.
In October 2024, we made a big move in this space – we organised the first ever Global Kinship Care Week, an international awareness campaign that took place in over 20 countries. Together with 20 civil society organisations, we called for better support and recognition of Kinship Care. Find out more here.
Become part of the movement!
Family For Every Child’s impactful work supports the lives of over 23,000 children annually. By joining our global network of changemakers together, we are continuing to foster meaningful change led from the ground up.
