Yesterday,
the Poverty Truth Commission (PTC), a part of Faith in Community Scotland,
visited the Scottish Parliament to hold an event for raising awareness on
various Kinship Carers issues.
If you
wish to check the interview of one of PTC's Commissioners, Sadie, by the STV
channel yesterday, please click here.
Also,
find below a news piece on the event by the Evening Times
Call for Fairer Deal to help Kinship Carers
GRANDPARENTS
from Glasgow will travel to the Scottish Parliament today to call for a fairer
deal for kinship carers.
They are
the grandparents, aunts and uncles who care for children affected by parental
drug or alcohol abuse, neglect or bereavement. Charities say they save the
Scottish Government hundreds of millions every year but face significant
disparities across local authorities in financial support and compared to
foster carers.
According
to official figures, Kinship Carers are currently looking after at least 10,742
of Scotland's most disadvantaged children. A parliamentary event has been
organised by the Glasgow-based Poverty Truth Commission to highlight their
plight with the backing of Johann Lamont MSP.
Some
kinship carers are paid child benefit but others are not and some also receive
allowances paid by councils.
The
amounts vary from area to area and also according to whether children are in
informal arrangements, officially designated as "looked after" or
placed as a result of a court order.
One carer
from Glasgow said: "I became a kinship carer 11 years ago when my wife and
I brought our granddaughter home from hospital to care for her. "We had
both retired and had no money to fall back on and nobody to help us. "The
Children and Young People Bill currently passing through Holyrood proposes to
address some of the shortcomings in the current support provided. However
charities say without effective resources real change is unlikely.
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