Of the millions of children throughout the world who are in out-of-home care, most are being looked after by grandparents or other members of their family. This form of care – known as kinship care – is indeed the most significant “alternative care” solution in a wide variety of countries. While there is a considerable a priori advantage for a child to be looked after by family members or others familiar to him or her, often in the original community, kinship in itself is no guarantee of welfare, protection and ability to cope. Yet kinship care is often subjected to far less supervision than its non-kinship counterpart, and in most cases to no supervision at all. It is not referred to in any internationally-recognised standards or guidelines.
©ISS/IRC
