About the Project

Kinship Care is the term given whereby children who cannot live with their birth parents are looked after by a connected person (relative or family friend). There have always been kinship care arrangements, but these arrangements have often been under resourced and overlooked.

In December 2023, the government published its first-ever "Championing Kinship Care" National Kinship Care Strategy, which explicitly states the vision that "Kinship care will be the first consideration for a child who can no longer live with their parents". There are now an estimated 140,000 children in kinship care across the UK. However, despite the growing prevalence and recognition of kinship care, this remains an under-researched area of practice. Within this project, we are looking for someone to build on the existing (sparce) research base and add to our knowledge about the benefits and challenges of kinship care arrangements.

The successful student can choose their own research focus within the broad areas of exploring the support needs of kinship families or diving more deeply into children’s experiences of kinship care and how this affects their lives in the short and longer terms.

Championing Kinship Care

You would be supported by experts in the fields of kinship care and family support, and would be able to join a vibrant, multidisciplinary research community. This is a self- funded opportunity.

Supervisory Team

• Director of Studies: Dr Alison Prowle, Institute of Education
• Supervisors: Dr Peter Unwin, School of Health and Wellbeing
• Research Group: Social Pedagogy Research Group

Application Process

To begin the application process please go to: https://www.worc.ac.uk/research/research-degrees/applying-for-a-phd/.

The Interview
All successful applicants will be offered an interview with the proposed Supervisory Team. You will be contacted by a member of the Doctoral School Team to find a suitable date. Interviews can be conducted in person or over Microsoft Teams.

For further details, please contact Dr Alison Prowle, a.prowle@worc.ac.uk, who will be Director of Studies for this opportunity.