Helping stabilise a kinship placement through daily routine support
The situation
A kinship carer was looking after several children, each with very high support needs. Every child needed individual help with dressing, breakfast, school lunches and packing bags each morning, and each could experience significant distress during the morning routine. Supporting one child through a difficult moment would often unsettle another.
With one set of hands and every morning under pressure, the children were arriving late to school each day and missing critical learning and social interaction. For one child, who already has shortened school days, arriving late cut even further into limited learning time. The strain had reached the point where the carer was rethinking whether she could sustain the primary placement.
The support
Greater Support is in the home four mornings a week, Tuesday to Friday, for three hours each morning. Our team works alongside the carer, giving each child the individual support they need to get up, dressed, fed and ready for school, and providing another set of eyes and hands so difficult moments can be supported early, before they escalate or spread between the children.
The outcome
The children now arrive at school on time and participate more fully in learning and social activities. Mornings are calmer, with fewer escalations. The pressure on the kinship carer has eased, and the placement has remained stable for the children.
The children’s Child Safety Officer expressed thanks for the difference the support has made to the household.
“We are very thankful for the support Greater Support provides to the kinship carer and the children.”
Child Safety Officer
Details have been kept general to protect the privacy of the children and their carer.
