Kinship allowances

You may be eligible for a kinship allowance if a child is in your care, but you are not their parent.

A kinship allowance is a weekly payment that aims to support you in raising a child within their family network.

The allowance is part of a national pilot that will run for 3 years until March 2029.

Eligibility criteria

You're eligible for a kinship allowance when:

the child you look after is under 18 years old
you have a Special Guardianship Order (SGO), a live-with Child Arrangement Order (CAO) or final dispute resolution
the child would otherwise be in care.

Apply for a kinship allowance

You can only apply for a kinship allowance from us if you live in Medway. We'll continue to pay your kinship allowance if you move outside of Medway at a later date.

You can enter the details of more than one child in our application form.

To complete our online application form, you'll need to provide:

your name, date of birth and relationship to the child
your contact details, including address, email address and phone number
a copy of your ID (such as a driving licence or passport)
proof of address (such as a Council Tax or utility bill)
a copy of the SGO, CAO, or final dispute resolution
child's name, date of birth and address
your bank details for payment if your application is approved
a copy of a recent bank statement to prove bank account ownership.

You can find out how we will use this data in our privacy statement.

Apply for a kinship allowance

What happens after you apply

We'll use your application form and supporting documents to assess your eligibility.

Our Kinship Information Officer will check that we have all the information we need and may contact you if they need anything else. They may ask for more information, documents or clarification from social workers.

A final decision will be made by our Evidence Review Panel. The panel will review all of the information you have provided to check it meets the eligibility criteria.

If you're eligible

We'll write to you by email or letter to confirm we have approved your application. This will tell you what you'll be paid and how often.

Payments will:

typically be between £170 and £299 per week depending on the child's age and location
not be means-tested
not affect Universal Credit or Child Benefit.
be tax exempt
end when the child turns 18 years old.

If you're not eligible

We'll write to you by email or letter to confirm you are not eligible for a kinship allowance.

You may be able to get other kinship support.

Kinship care