The Relatives Who Say Yes When a Child Needs a Home

Sometimes, becoming a parent again is not a decision people have months or years to prepare for. For some relatives in England and Wales, the question can arrive suddenly, with only minutes to decide whether to take a child into their home.

Clive, a headteacher, remembers the day a social worker arrived with his six-week-old niece, Savannah. He had little time to understand what was happening before the baby was left in his care.

He had no cot, no pushchair and no experience looking after a newborn. Yet what initially seemed like a temporary arrangement eventually became permanent. Nine years later, Clive remains Savannah’s legal guardian.

He is one of many relatives who have stepped forward when parents are unable to care for their children. These arrangements are known as kinship care, and they often mean grandparents, aunts, uncles or close family friends suddenly taking on full-time responsibility.

Another couple, Alan and Julie, were given just 10 minutes to decide whether they would care for their severely disabled granddaughter, Ella, who was only 10 months old at the time.

They said yes immediately.

The decision changed their lives. Like many kinship carers, they had to adapt their homes, finances, work and daily routines around a child who needed a stable family environment.

For some families, the emotional rewards are enormous. Clive says caring for Savannah has been one of the best things that has happened to him, even though the experience has sometimes been exhausting and isolating.

But the families also describe a lack of practical support. Some carers have had to reduce their working hours, give up jobs or fight for financial assistance after taking children into their homes.

According to the charity Kinship, more than 141,000 children in England and Wales are being raised by kinship carers. The organisation says four in 10 carers surveyed were given less than an hour to make their decision, while another fifth had less than a day.

Earlier this year, a government pilot began providing financial allowances to some kinship carers in several local authorities. The scheme is intended to recognise the important role these families play in keeping children within their wider family networks.

For the relatives involved, however, the decision is rarely about money or recognition. It is usually much simpler: a child they love needs somewhere safe to go, and they decide to open their door.

Sources: The Guardian, October 4, 2026; Kinship, the UK charity supporting kinship carers.