How does kinship foster care licensing affect the child’s birth parents?

Kinship foster care licensing, more accurately called kinship foster carer approval, changes how a child is cared for without automatically ending the birth parents’ legal relationship with their child. The effect on each birth parent depends on whether the child is accommodated voluntarily or is subject to a court order, the child’s safety and welfare, and the arrangements set out by children’s services and the court.

The birth parents’ legal position

Approval of a relative or connected person as a foster carer does not itself transfer parental responsibility to that carer. A birth parent who has parental responsibility generally remains involved in major decisions, unless a court order or another legal arrangement limits their role. The local authority may have decision-making powers while the child is looked after, particularly where there is an interim or full care order.

The legal position can be different if the child later moves to a special guardianship arrangement, is adopted, or becomes subject to another order. Those arrangements can give the carer greater authority and may affect the birth parents’ ability to make decisions or request the child’s return. Kinship fostering should therefore not be treated as the same as special guardianship or adoption.

Involvement in the child’s care plan

Birth parents should usually be included in care planning, subject to safeguarding considerations and any restrictions imposed by the court. Their views may be sought about the child’s health, education, routines, relationships, culture, religion and important family connections. They may also be asked to provide information that helps the kinship foster carer understand the child’s needs and history.

In practice, the local authority will coordinate the plan and the child’s social worker will explain which decisions can be made by the kinship foster carer, which require the local authority’s agreement and which remain matters for someone with parental responsibility. Day-to-day decisions, such as meals, ordinary activities and routine appointments, are commonly managed by the foster carer under the agreed delegation arrangements. Significant decisions may need wider consultation or formal consent.

Contact with the child

Kinship fostering does not automatically stop contact between a child and their birth parents. Contact may be direct, supervised, indirect or temporarily paused, depending on the child’s welfare, the risks identified and the terms of any court order. Arrangements should set out where contact takes place, who supervises it if necessary, how often it occurs and what happens if a session cannot go ahead.

The kinship carer and birth parents may have an important role in making contact workable, but neither should unilaterally change arrangements that have been set by the local authority or court. A child’s wishes and feelings should be considered in an age-appropriate way. Contact plans can be reviewed if the child’s needs, circumstances or safety concerns change.

Communication with the kinship foster carer

Because the carer is also a relative or someone known to the family, the adults may already have a personal relationship. This can make communication easier, but it can also create disagreements about boundaries, routines or information-sharing. The fostering assessment and care plan should clarify practical matters, including:

• how birth parents and the carer will communicate;
• which information about the child can be shared and with whom;
• how birthdays, school events and wider family occasions will be managed;
• who will take the child to appointments and activities; and
• how concerns or disagreements will be raised with the social worker.

Keeping adult disputes away from the child is important. A kinship foster carer must prioritise the child’s safety and emotional wellbeing, even where this creates tension within the wider family.

Birth parents’ involvement in reviews and decisions

Birth parents are normally informed about looked-after child reviews and may contribute to discussions about the placement and the care plan. They can share information about the child, raise concerns and ask questions about decisions that affect them. Their participation may be restricted where sharing information would create a safeguarding risk or conflict with a court direction.

They may also be able to challenge decisions through the local authority’s complaints process, legal proceedings or an advocacy service, depending on the issue and their legal status. If a birth parent disagrees with the placement, contact arrangements or a proposed long-term plan, obtaining independent legal advice is sensible. The social worker should explain relevant rights and routes for raising concerns rather than expecting the family to resolve a legal dispute informally.

What approval means for the birth parent’s responsibilities

A birth parent may still be expected to engage with assessments, meetings, contact arrangements or work identified in the child’s plan. This could include addressing concerns that led to the child entering care, where appropriate. The precise expectations should be explained clearly and should reflect the court’s directions and the assessed needs of the child.

Approval of a kinship foster carer does not guarantee that the child will return to a birth parent, nor does it automatically decide the child’s permanent future. The local authority must continue to assess the child’s needs and review whether the current plan remains appropriate. Possible outcomes can include reunification, continued fostering with the kinship carer, another family arrangement or a different legal order.

Support for birth parents and the wider family

Birth parents may need help understanding the difference between parental responsibility, foster care, care orders and contact arrangements. The child’s social worker should explain the plan in accessible language and identify relevant support, such as advocacy, counselling, substance misuse services, parenting work or legal advice where appropriate. The kinship foster carer should also receive guidance about maintaining safe family relationships and managing difficult conversations.

Anyone affected by a proposed kinship fostering arrangement should ask the social worker to confirm the legal basis for the placement, who holds parental responsibility, what contact has been agreed and how important decisions will be made. Those details, rather than the carer’s family relationship alone, determine how licensing affects the birth parents in practice.