This page explores how to recognise the signs and symptoms of trauma, as well as practical tips for supporting children in kinship care.
Online advice and information
Explore all our advice guides or use the filter below to search by topic, care arrangement or type of support. Want to find guides that are relevant to your situation? Try our online advice finder.
This page explores different types of self-soothing and self-regulating techniques.
This page explores anxiety: what it is and how we might recognise it in ourselves and the children and young people in our care.
Information on anger, what it can look like and how to manage it.
Information on help to pay school costs, such as uniforms, school meals and transport.
Find out what help is available to help you cope with rising energy bills. We know that many kinship carers worry about energy bills, particularly in winter. We hope the suggestions below will help keep your home warm and make you aware of the types of support available to you.
Find out how you become a kinship carer, and what to expect from the process.
Practical steps you can take to plan for what will happen to the children if you become ill or die.
Find out about the responsibilities of schools towards children and young people in kinship care.
If you are a kinship carer to a 16- or 17-year-old, find out how they might be able to claim Universal Credit.
What to do if you are worried about a child's safety or welfare
Information about parental responsibility and how it can be obtained.
Drugs and alcohol can have a devastating effect on families and is a common cause of children being raised in kinship care. Find out about sources of help.
Benefit support called Bereavement Support Payment, which kinship carers could claim if a partner has died.
Information and links to specialist support on how to manage debt and get financial help as a kinship carer.
Information about the adoption and special guardianship support fund for kinship carers, including how to apply and who is eligible.
Information and advice on the types of financial support available to kinship carers with a special guardianship order.
Information and advice for kinship carers on adoption, how to adopt a child, alternatives to adoption and available support.
Advice on employment rights for kinship carers who need time off work, including flexible working, time for dependants and parental leave.
Information and advice on Pension Credit for kinship carers who are State Pension age or above, on a low income and need financial support.
What Universal Credit is, who can apply, what the rates are, how caring for children affects what you get and how to apply.