Clive vividly remembers the day when, without warning or time to work out what he was really letting himself in for, he became a kinship carer.
asserted
he → remember → himself
“The social worker left, the door closed and Savannah was lying there in a carry cot, wrapped up in a pink blanket.
asserted
Savannah → leave → blanket
She looked so calm and so comfy, absolutely oblivious about what’s just happened.
asserted
what → look → ?
I burst into tears.
asserted
I → burst → tears
I’m a teacher, but training as a teacher does not prepare you for looking after a baby.
asserted
training → ’m → baby
“I didn’t know how to change a baby’s nappy, I didn’t have a push chair, I didn’t have a cot, I didn’t know where she was going to sleep.
asserted
she → know → cot
I didn’t have anything.”
asserted
I → have → anything
A few hours earlier, Clive, a primary school headteacher, had taken a call at work from children’s services.
asserted
Clive → take → services
He assumed it would be about one of his pupils, but it was about his six-week-old niece.
asserted
it → assume → niece
Would he, as a family member, take her into temporary care?
asserted
he → take → care
“So I, quite blase, said: ‘Yeah, no problem at all.
asserted
I → say → ?
I’ll need to put a few things in place, so just give me a couple of days.’
asserted
I → need → days
They were like: ‘No, she needs to come to you today.
asserted
she → need → you
We need to drop her off at four o’clock.’
asserted
We → need → o’clock
“I was kind of like: ‘Well, what happens if I don’t say yes today?’
asserted
I → happen → ?
They said they’d have to come up with ‘other options’.
asserted
they → say → options
So I started to panic: what if she goes into foster care or for adoption?
asserted
she → start → adoption
So I said yes – and deal with the consequences later.”
asserted
I → say → consequences
“I went home and just sat there waiting.
asserted
I → go → ?
It was a bit bizarre because I don’t think I’ve ever been home at 3.30pm on a school day before.
asserted
I → think → day
And then social care came, dropped her off.
asserted
care → come → her
“I’d only ever invested in my career.
asserted
I → invest → career
I was career-driven all the time.
asserted
I → drive → ?
And then a baby was sprung on me that I’d never planned for.”
asserted
I → spring → that
Clive, then 32, would now admit he was naive about the consequences of the decision that changed his life.
asserted
that → admit → life
Nine years on, with the “temporary” stay having become permanent, “Uncle Clive” is Savannah’s legal guardian, though she is in regular contact with her birth parents.
asserted
she → become → parents
He adores her, and theirs is a heartwarming kinship success story.
asserted
theirs → adore → her
She still has the pink blanket.
asserted
She → have → blanket
But the path, he admits, while joyful and fulfilling, has not always been smooth.
asserted
he → admit → ?
“I would do it all again.
asserted
I → do → it
It’s the best thing that could have happened for my niece.
uncertain
that → ’ → niece
More than 141,000 children in England and Wales are like Savannah, being raised by kinship carers.
asserted
children → raise → carers
These are normally relatives, like Clive, or family friends who step in to prevent children whose parents can no longer look after them from entering the care system.
asserted
parents → step → system
Despite the dependence of children’s services on kinship care – twice as many children enter kinship arrangements as are fostered – it remains startlingly informal, with few of the practical, legal and financial supports that accompany fostering or adoption.
asserted
that → enter → fostering
Often it can seem kinship care is invisible to policymakers.
asserted
care → seem → policymakers
Clive’s experience – being given just hours to make a momentous decision about whether to take over care of a loved one – is far from unusual.
asserted
experience → give → one
A new survey by the care charity Kinship found that four in 10 carers were given less than an hour to make a decision.
asserted
carers → find → decision
A further fifth had less than 24 hours.
asserted
fifth → have → hours
Alan and Julie, both 65, were given 10 minutes to decide whether they would care for their severely disabled grandchild Ella, who was then 10 months old.
asserted
who → give → grandchild
They had just got back home to Leeds after a holiday when they got the call from social services.
asserted
they → get → services
…and 55 more, not listed.
The Aporia
