Lack of post-18 kinship care support has almost driven me back into homelessness
Kinship care supports thousands of children raised by relatives when parents can’t look after them — but what happens when they turn 18? Honey Alma, raised in kinship care, explains
by: Honey Alma
28 Oct 2025
Honey Alma grew up in kinship care and explains how lack of post-18 support can leave this community at risk. Image: Supplied
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You may not have heard of kinship care – where a child is taken in, long or short-term, by a relative or close family friend, because their birth parents are unable to look after them. I was placed at my grandma’s at three years old due to severe neglect. Later, my birth parents would both prematurely pass and leave nothing behind.
The kinship care system is very complicated. Your ‘legal order’ – the rules the courts set around parental rights and responsibilities – determines how much support kinship care families receive, in financial, practical and therapeutic terms.
Children raised in kinship care become NEET (not in education, employment or training) at a rate almost three times higher than children who live with their birth parents. Almost half of us have a special education need, disability and/or mental health condition. The trauma and attachment wounds we develop due to removal from our birth parents often play a significant part in our challenges post-resettlement.
I have been one of the lucky children who have ‘beaten the odds’; I have achieved a master’s degree, found my dream job, and been through EMDR therapy to keep my PTSD manageable. I have survived physical and sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, homelessness, drug dependency and multiple suicide attempts. I am what most policymakers would deem a ‘success story’.
That should be it. After 18 years old, children raised in kinship care disappear. There is no legal term for us. There is no support. Why would we need any? We’re fixed; we’re adults.
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Honey attending the kinship carers trolley march with Kinship earlier this year. Image: Supplied
The system is in total denial about the structural disadvantages we face beyond our childhood.
Good afternoon Mr MP and team,
My name is Honey Alma. I am 23 years old and I am looking to rent privately within East Kent. I was raised in the area, and my grandparents are generously allowing me to stay herewith them so I can avoid homelessness.
Unfortunately, even though I earn more than enough from my job, I am unable to find a guarantor in order to move out. I would need a guarantor since it’s my first time renting and I don’t have references.
Both of my parents are dead, and none of my extended family earns enough money to qualify as a guarantor. They are all hard-working tradespeople, but they all earn below the amount needed to guarantee me (usually £28-35k/year). Plus, they have children of their own to support.
I was raised in kinship care by my grandparents under Kent County Council, but there has been no post-18 support. I have beaten the odds by getting a master’s degree and a good job despite losing my parents and experiencing immense traumas, yet due to my circumstances, I am still unable to find somewhere to live by myself.
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This is a dignity any young person should be afforded, but especially one raised in the care system. Kinship care, as usual, is completely sidelined, and I am ineligible for any help afforded to “conventional” care leavers, despite having comparable experiences.
The private renting system has been brutal. I have tried negotiating, offering more deposit money, and suggesting a guarantor scheme, but nothing works.
Please help me.
Thank you,
Honey Alma
I ran home to compile this email to my local MP after viewing my dream flat. Just like the 30-odd dream flats before, I knew I wouldn’t get it.
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Two days later, I received a phone call from the single most out-of-touch MP staffer I have ever spoken to. Given my job role in policy, I would say this was quite an achievement.
He was full of unhelpful advice, ranging from “could you just ask nicely?” to “have you considered home ownership?”. He recounted the story of his friend – with a very alive birth mum – who simply offered a much larger deposit in return for a guarantor with a lower income. As if that option was the most achievable and reasonable for anyone.
I was quickly shut down when I suggested this may be a systemic issue around the lack of support for kinship care leavers post-18. He reeled off a list of (wonderful) charities which work with kinship carers and care leavers, but stopped short when I corrected him that none of these charities seriously advocate for post-18 reform. There is no space for us in policy, charity or language.
Kinship care itself has only begun to reach the periphery of mainstream consciousness. Nevertheless, we need to ask ourselves… Where do the kinship care children go? What do they do? There needs to be greater research, support, and – vitally – interest in us once we have grown out of the adorable and marketable child phase.
I am hopeful that with the (somewhat) new national kinship care ambassador Jahnine Davis and the (very) new minister for children and families Josh MacAlister, the struggles of kinship care leavers might get some recognition. It may even get some change. My local MP certainly won’t be leading the charge – but I will.
