Friends and Family Care Policy consultation

For every child growing up, their family and friends are important for the love, care and support they provide, not just to them, but to their parents in caring for them. When parents are under pressure, for whatever reason, if they can draw upon support from their family and friends, most will get through and family life will continue. For some, however, their circumstances result in them being unable to care adequately for their children and arrangements may be made for them to be cared for by friends or family members. The arrangements will most often be a private matter but may sometimes involve Cambridgeshire County Council’s Children’s Services. Some arrangements will be temporary, others may be planned to be – or become – permanent, such that it is appropriate to consider formalising them through the courts.

In 2011, the Department for Education responded to the various interest groups concerned to improve the support available to family & friends carers, by requiring local authorities to formally publish their policy. This document is the latest version of Cambridgeshire County Council’s policy.

The reasons children come to be living away from their parents are many and varied. Some will be informal arrangements agreed between the adults involved and some will arise because action has been taken by Cambridgeshire County Council resulting in the child ‘coming into care’ (what is known as being a Looked After Child). The policy outlines the support and legal options available to carers according to their circumstances.

Comments are invited on all aspects of the policy, a copy of which to reference can be found in the 'document library', which will eventually be a public document located on the council’s website. This consultation will close on Friday 26 October 2018.

To submit your views, please click on 'complete form' under 'Your Views'.