Kinship Care Reform in 2026: What the changes could mean for families

Why kinship care reform matters to grandparents and relatives

More than 150,000 children in England and Wales are cared for by relatives or close family friends. A kinship care arrangement may be informal, supported by a local authority, or secured through a court order. The legal route also matters because it can affect parental responsibility, decision-making, permanence and access to financial or practical support.

Family lawyers regularly receive urgent calls from grandparents and other relatives who have been asked by children’s services whether they can care for a child. A family law solicitor can provide legal advice but before agreeing to a plan, carers need to understand where they stand. Are they being assessed as kinship foster carers, is a private arrangement being proposed, and would a Child Arrangements Order or Special Guardianship Order be appropriate?

Kinship Allowance Pilot 2026: Who may receive financial support?

One of the most important developments is the UK Government’s Kinship Zones programme. Announced in February 2026, it is backed by £126 million and is intended to reach around 5,000 children across seven local authority areas. A central feature is a trial allowance for eligible carers at a level equivalent to the national minimum fostering allowance.

Pilot Kinship Allowance 2026

The pilot is designed to test whether more consistent financial help, alongside guidance, training and locally tailored support, improves outcomes for children and strengthens family placements. For many families, the kinship care allowance is a long-awaited recognition that carers may need to make significant life changes and may incur extra expenses. This may include reducing working hours, adapting their home, arranging childcare or meeting additional day-to-day costs (often at short notice).

This remains a pilot rather than a national entitlement. Eligibility depends on the area taking part and the programme rules, including the type of legal order held or being pursued. Carers outside a Kinship Zone may still be able to seek local authority support, benefits or help under an assessed support plan, but the position can be complex. An experienced family law solicitor can review the proposed arrangement and clarify what financial support should be explored before you sign or agree to anything.

Proposed Kinship Care Order: A simpler route through the family court?

Alongside financial reform, the Law Commission published provisional proposals in July 2026 to simplify kinship care law in England and Wales. The consultation is open until 16th October 2026, after which final recommendations will be prepared for the UK and Welsh Governments.

The headline proposal is a new, flexible Kinship Care Order, available only to kinship carers. It could replace the use of Special Guardianship Orders and Child Arrangements Orders for future kinship cases, while existing orders would remain unaffected. The court could tailor the order to the needs of the child, parents and carer rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all route. This move recognises that each individual circumstance is different – something specialist family lawyers who manage children’s arrangements know very well.

Today, different orders present different levels of parental responsibility, permanence and support. A solicitor can explain how a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) differs from a ‘lives with’ Child Arrangements Order, local authority fostering or an informal family arrangement. Also, a lawyer can advise whether the proposed support plan is sufficient.

If implemented, the new order could give families a clearer legal framework while preserving the child’s important relationships. For now, though, it is a proposal only. Families must continue to use the existing legal routes and should avoid delaying urgent action, expecting a new order to soon be available.

The Law Commission also proposes a Kinship Parental Responsibility Agreement. This could allow parents to give a closely related carer parental responsibility without court proceedings, for a period from one year until the child turns 18. It may help carers deal with schools, health professionals and other services, particularly where care is planned or currently informal.

The proposals also address consistency in assessments for kinship foster carers. These are provisional recommendations, not current law, but they signal a move towards a dedicated system that better reflects the reality of family and friends caring for children.