Kinship Care
Kinship care is the care provided by relatives or a member of a child’s social network when a child cannot live with their parents.
Aboriginal kinship care is care provided by relatives or friends to an Aboriginal child who cannot live with their parents, where Aboriginal family and community and Aboriginal culture are valued as central to the child’s safety, stability and development. The Aboriginal kinship services are operating in every region of the state.
Statutory kinship placements occur when a Child Protection intervention has occurred and a decision has been made to place a child with relatives or a significant friend, and may also involve an order made by the Children’s Court.
Private, informal or non-statutory kinship care are terms which may be used to describe arrangements where children are cared for by relatives without any Child Protection intervention.
The Department of Human Services funds 29 metropolitan and regionally based kinship care services to improve the supports available for children growing up in kinship care. These community based kinship care services provide a range of cultural and support services for children in kinship care and their families close to where they live. These include:
- information and advice;
- family support services (available to all kinship carers), and
- intensive support services for the most vulnerable children placed in kinship care as a result of child protection involvement.
View the Kinship Care Service Provider Contacts to find a provider in your area.
Peak Body - Kinship Carers Victoria
Kinship Carers Victoria (KCV) is the peak body for all kinship carers. KCV’s role is to:
- Link individual kinship carers and carer groups across the State for mutual benefit.
- Promote greater community awareness of kinship families, carers and children in kinship care in Victoria.
- Provide advice for government, organisations and the community on behalf of Victorian kinship carers about improving supports available for children in kinship care.
- Support the implementation and operation of the mainstream and Aboriginal kinship care program model in Victoria and any other future initiatives that improve the formal support services provided for children growing up in kinship care and their carers.
KCV can be contacted on (03) 9372 2422 or via the KCV website (external site).
- Kinship care contacts
Contacts for Community Service Organisations providing Kinship Care in Victoria.
