Guidance

Kinship Zones: programme specification

Guidance on delivering the kinship allowance pilot and other kinship support, such as family network support packages.

• From: Department for Education
• Published: 1 April 2026
• Last updated: 20 August 2026
  Show all updates

  1. 20 August 2026

     Updated information for local authorities assessing cases of kinship carers moving into or out of Kinship Zone local authority areas in the ‘Out of area arrangements’ section.

  2. 1 April 2026

     First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Kinship Zones: programme specification

PDF, 767 KB, 45 pages

Details

This guidance is for:

• local authorities participating in the Kinship Zones programme
• children’s services practitioners in those local-authority areas
• delivery staff working on kinship support

It explains how to deliver the kinship allowance as part of the programme and sets out the:

• eligibility rules
• funding arrangements
• requirements for participating authorities

It also provides information about how to:

• support kinship carers
• complete monitoring returns
• work with the independent evaluator