Ms Laura Dunleavy:

The voice of kinship carers is often left on the sidelines and is not involved in any of those spaces, so we would always advocate to have that voice as central.

I want to follow up on and echo everything Mr. Broderick and Ms Dunne said. Regarding the formalisation piece of kinship care, it is often not a social work response that is needed or necessary and families are often closed off to social work when the child protection element is removed or they are not open to social work to begin with. What we are looking for is the resourcing of a support pathway for when a family steps up - they are in a crisis and a really difficult time - so that they are supported with wraparound support that is resourced.

At the moment, there is a lack of awareness. We are a team of two full-time and one part-time worker in our programme in Treoir and we would love to see a society that understands and is aware of kinship care. Having that awareness is a first point. We can then look at the pathway to support, which relates to the formalisation element.

Regarding the relative foster care assessment, and as Ms Rice said, a grandparent might have to step up for one, two, three or more children and is in a one- or two-bedroom apartment. That grandparent is not going to pass the relative foster care assessment. Sometimes, families are not informed about that being an option and once they take on the care, that case is closed off, so that option is not even on the agenda. Other families get that information and say they do not want to go through the formalisation of their care for their grandchildren, nieces, nephews or whoever it might be. That is the lived reality.

We need to look at having some level of assessment to ensure a family is supported but also at a pathway of support and a return point of contact, if needed.