NEW research has warned that children in Wales who leave care to live with relatives or special guardians are being overlooked, despite facing significant mental health and behavioural difficulties.

A Cardiff University study, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, found that children in kinship and special guardianship families often face challenges from as young as four.

Researchers said the difficulties could affect children’s experiences in school and their long-term outcomes, but warned that many families are left without proper support once formal care arrangements are made.

The study found that kinship and special guardianship families in Wales are more likely to live in areas of deprivation, have lower incomes, and live in larger and more complex households than other families.

Wales has some of the highest rates of children in care in the UK and across much of the developed world.

Special Guardianship Orders, known as SGOs, are often granted to relatives or others who already have a relationship with a child. They are increasingly used in Wales as a way for children to leave the care system and live permanently with an alternative caregiver when returning home to their parents is not considered realistic.

They are now used more often as a route out of care than adoption, helping children remain connected to their family and community. However, researchers say many children and carers are left without ongoing help once an order is granted.

Lead researcher Dr Lorna Stabler, based at Cardiff University’s Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre, said: “Our findings reveal the challenging circumstances facing kinship carers and special guardians in Wales.

“Kinship carers and special guardians often step up to look after children because of a deep love and commitment to them. They want to provide a long-term stable environment to children who have experienced trauma and adversity.

“Many believe that because a child is living with a relative, they do not need any further support, but our research shows that this is not the case.”

Researchers analysed anonymous social work data from the SAIL databank, tracking the outcomes of more than 26,000 children in care across Wales, including 2,380 who later received an SGO.

A total of 42 children aged four to seven in kinship care also took part in face-to-face visits with researchers. Children visited the university with their carer on two occasions and took part in activities designed to measure cognitive, social and emotional skills and development.

Carers and teachers also completed questionnaires about the children.

The results showed that more than half of the children were rated as having high or very high levels of emotional and behavioural difficulties. This compares with around 8% in the wider child population.

Co-investigator Professor Katherine Shelton, from Cardiff University’s School of Psychology, said: “Our findings highlight the need to anticipate additional support for children under a SGO, in both education and health settings.

“While this may start with detailed psychological assessments, it’s also important to interpret these within the wider environments in which children live and learn, such as their classroom and playground.”

The study also found inequalities in which children in care received SGOs across Wales. Children with a disability, children who were not white, and children living in some local authority areas were less likely than other children in care to be granted an SGO.

In Merthyr Tydfil, 15.6% of all children in the sample exited care with an SGO, compared with 2.7% in Wrexham.

‘You are on your own now’

Daisy Chaudhuri, a carer who raised three children under a Special Guardianship Order, said she was not surprised by the findings.

She said: “I am not surprised at the high number of children that had suffered adverse childhood experiences, emotional difficulties and mental health issues in this research.

“In my view it is 100% of children who are affected in some way, as being removed from your birth family is an adverse childhood experience in itself.”

She said support, including therapeutic support, should be put in place immediately for both children and carers.

Daisy added: “The granting of an SGO is often seen as the end of state involvement.

“The first time I asked for help I was told by one social worker, ‘you took out the SGO, so you are on your own now!’ That was definitely not the impression I was given when asked to take out the SGO.”

She said schools also needed better understanding of how trauma can affect children.

She added: “It is a lack of awareness that often leads to a child being labelled as ‘naughty, disruptive and unwilling to learn’.”

‘We had to fight’

Sharon De’Ath, from Blackwood, took on responsibility for her grandson Reegan when he was just 10 months old.

Reegan, now aged 14, is doing well, but Sharon said the family had to fight to access therapy.

Sharon is a member of the Kinship Voices advisory group, set up by Dr Stabler with AFKA Cymru, to give kinship carers a voice in research and policy across Wales.

She and her husband initially fostered Reegan, but were persuaded by the local authority to apply for a Special Guardianship Order. Once it was granted, she said support dropped away.

Sharon said: “I have wondered, did I do him a disservice by taking him on under an SGO?

“If he had stayed in fostering or been adopted, he would have had access to therapy, but we had to fight for every bit of support.”

She said the financial impact on special guardians is also often overlooked.

“When Reegan came to us, I had to give up my £30,000 a year job so it had a huge financial impact on us,” she said.

“We were dealing with a massive change in our circumstances, along with navigating the emotional turmoil of the situation. But once the SGO came in, we didn’t hear from any support services again.”

Photo caption: Sharon De’Ath with her grandson Reegan, who came into her care when he was just 10 months old (Pic: Sharon De’Ath).