An exploration of ethnic minority communities' understanding and awareness of child protection and the Children's Hearings system in Scotland.

Protection of children at risk of abuse and promotion of their rights continues to be at the forefront of policy and legislative developments in Scotland. Organisations such as the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) have both legal and ethical duties to protect the well-being and rights of children in Scotland, particularly the most vulnerable. The increasing ethnic diversity among Scotland’s children raises the question of how effectively SCRA and its partner organisations can identify risks and effectively intervene to protect children of all ethnic backgrounds. However, there has been little research in Scotland on ethnic minorities and their involvement in child protection services. This research aimed to explore with agencies and third sector bodies working with ethnic minority groups in Scotland: a) their service users’ understanding of child protection and children’s rights; and b) what SCRA and its partner agencies could do to make the Children’s Hearings System more responsive and accessible to families from Scotland’s ethnic minorities and raise awareness of child protection and the role of the Hearings System within these communities. The research comprised of: 1) A review of the published literature on barriers to engaging ethnic minority communities in child protection. 2) An electronic survey of 182 professionals working universal services on their views of what factors might affect ethnic minority children and families accessing child protection services. 3) Interviews and focus groups with 31 individuals from ten organisations working directly with children and families from Scotland’s ethnic minorities. Findings: The barriers to services engaging with ethnic minority families in Scotland were found to be: a) Language and communication barriers, and linked to this concerns about confidentiality and poor quality of translation. b) Fear and distrust of services, and likelihood that services may underestimate the extent that ethnic minority community members fear them. c) Lack of knowledge of services and child protection, and that this may have wider implications for minority communities’ integration and participation in Scottish society. d) Culture-specific parenting in terms of lack of understanding of abuse and neglect, and differences in concepts of good parenting and protecting their child. e) That child welfare is the concern of the family rather than the state, and lack of understanding of children’s (and adults) rights. f) The perception that services are racist or culturally insensitive was the barrier rated lowest, although it was acknowledged to exist. The more significant barrier to services intervening to protect a child were difficulties in finding out when a child was at risk due to the insular nature of some communities. Marginalised communities – many of the barriers above faced by ethnic minority families are very similar to those experienced by marginalised white Scottish families. It may be that poverty and social exclusion are more important barriers rather than ethnic background, and that SCRA and its partner organisations should focus their activity on engagement with marginalised communities from across Scottish society and not solely on ethnic minorities. Recommendations: Improve cultural awareness: 1) All Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership (CHIP) member organisations – to raise awareness amongst their staff on the extent that families from marginalised communities fear involvement with services, and how this may impact on their engagement with them. Raising awareness of child protection and the Hearings System: a) CHIP to produce information materials for children young people and parents who have none or very little knowledge of the Hearings System and law related to child protection and children’s rights in Scotland. These materials to be circulated via libraries, schools, colleges, nurseries, religious organisations, third sector organisations, hospitals, etc.; and to be in different languages, in formats suitable for those with limited literacy, and age appropriate. To do this will require dedicated resources

Wellbeing outcomes for children and young people.

This is the second in a series of research reports on the effectiveness of Compulsory Supervision Orders where the child remains at home with their parent(s) (home CSOs). Home CSOs are the most common type of CSO made by Children’s Hearings, which was 4,270 children and young people in 20181. Over recent years, concerns have been raised about the effectiveness of home CSOs and outcomes for children and young people looked after at home. However, there has been little research on this and if the intervention of home CSOs has any effect on wellbeing outcomes. Part of the reason for this was the lack of a way of measuring overall wellbeing on an aggregated basis and at different points in time. This part of the research tries to address this gap through the development of a wellbeing concerns measurement tool to allow comparison of different groups, and over time on CSOs. The wellbeing concerns measurement tool is based on the Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible, and Included (SHANARRI) indicators that are part of the Getting It Right For every Child (GIRFEC) approach to improving the wellbeing of children and young people in Scotland. In this research, each these overarching indicators was further defined by a series of individual indicators of wellbeing concern – a total of 94 for young children and 104 for young people. The cases of 172 young people (12 years or more) and 171 young children (under 3 years) were examined - split into: three groups of young people looked after at home (1. with offence grounds, 2. with education non-attendance grounds, 3. with grounds not related to offending or non-attendance – control); and two groups of young children (1. with home CSO, 2. with CSO away from home – control). Each case was examined at three time points (i.e. when CSO first made, after a year, and after two years) using the information held by SCRA, with reduction in numbers of concerns implying improvement in wellbeing outcomes. This part of the research aimed to answer two questions: 1. Does the intervention of a home CSO improve children and young people’s wellbeing outcomes? 2. Are there differences in young children’s wellbeing outcomes between those first placed on home CSOs and those first placed on CSOs away from home

Care planning and interventions.

This is the third in a series of reports on research on the effectiveness of Compulsory Supervision Orders where the child remains at home with their parents (home CSOs). Home CSOs are the most common type of CSO made by Children’s Hearings and accounted for 45% of all CSOs in place in 2018, which is 4,270 children and young people. Questions have been raised about the quality of planning for children and young people who are looked after at home and the delivery of interventions to support them. To help answer these questions, the documents provided to Hearings for 343 children and young people were examined to find out the extent to which there were care plans that met statutory requirements, and if services were available to deliver these plans. There were 172 young people and 171 young children research sample: Three groups of young people aged 12 or more with home CSOs (1. with offence grounds, 2. with education non-attendance grounds, 3. with grounds not related to offending or non-attendance – control group); and Two groups of young children under 3 years old (1. with home CSO; 2. with CSO away from home – control group). In addition, 14 focus groups were carried out with social workers, Children’s Reporters and Children’s Panel Members to gain their views on care planning. Findings: There are five main findings from this research: F1. Children with home CSOs were not treated differently from their peers who were accommodated in terms of provision of care plans for their Hearings. Up to a third of young children with home CSOs and those with CSOs away from home had no plans for their care provided to their Hearings. F2. The requirements of National Guidance and the Children & Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 Act were not being met for around a third of children and young people with CSOs (both at home and away from home) on the basis that there were no plans for their care presented to their Hearings. F3. The majority of Hearings made decisions on the basis of short term care plans or no plans at all for children and young people. Only a fifth of children and young people had care plans with clear timescales. There were few children and young people in this study where there were plans of over six months for their care and support. This is despite the importance that practitioners told us they place on clear plans for their decision making. F4. Corporate Parents cannot evidence that they are meeting their statutory responsibilities for looked after children and young people, as there were no plans for the longer term futures of the children and young people in this study. F5. Most children and young people with home CSOs and who had care plans, and their families, were being offered and/or provided with a range of services to meet their identified needs. However, the majority of these parents and young people did not fully engage with the services offered. Conclusion: In this part of the research we sought to find out for young people with home CSOs, young children with home CSOs, and young children looked after away from home: were the child’s needs and interventions to address them identified and were there clear timescales for delivery? In the majority of cases the child or young person’s needs and their those of their parents were identified, and supports were available. What was lacking in most cases were plans with clear timescales and that went beyond the short term. This raises questions about Hearings decision making and the extent to which Corporate Parents are meeting their statutory responsibilities to looked after children and young people

Residence and contact conditions.

This is the first in a series of research reports on the effectiveness of Compulsory Supervision Orders where the child remains at home with their parent(s) (home CSOs). Home CSOs are the most common type of CSO made by Children’s Hearings, accounting for 45% of all CSOs in 2018, which is 4,270 children and young people. There is very little information on if and how home CSOs are being used to specify who a child or young person should live with and/or regulate their contact with individuals who are risk to them. We aimed to answer two questions: 1) To what extent are home CSOs being used to restrict contact with a parent or other person(s) who presents a risk to the child? 2) To what extent are home CSOs being used to secure residence with fathers? The research went wider than these aims including the use of contact conditions for children looked after away from home, other conditions in CSOs, and length of CSOs. The research was in two parts: a) Analysis of Hearings decisions and CSOs for 343 children and young people’s when CSO first made, after a year, and after two years – for three groups of young people with home CSOs (i.e. 1. young people with offence grounds, 2. young people with education non-attendance grounds, 3. young people with grounds not related to offending or non-attendance) and two groups of children under 3 years old (i.e. 1. with home CSO; 2. with CSO away from home). b) The perspectives of social workers, Children’s Panel Members and Children’s Reporters. This involved 14 focus groups with a total of 78 participants

Professional trust and relationships in Children's Hearings.

This is one of a series of reports on research on the effectiveness of Compulsory Supervision Orders where the child remains at home with their parents (home CSOs). This report explores the impact of the dynamics in a Children’s Hearing between those involved in it. Effective decision making in child protection is a complex issue, and one with significant implications for achieving good outcomes for children. It is widely accepted that good professional relationships are essential in child protection – where agencies work together, the best decisions and outcomes for the child are realised. Previous studies have found that professional respect and trust can impact on the effectiveness of decision making in Hearings. This research explores this further from the perspectives of those in the Hearing (Children’s Panel Members, Children’s Reporters, social workers and parents), and from data on Hearings decisions and reasons. In focus groups, social workers described how they felt that their professionalism was not always respected and their reports not taken fully into account by Panel Members. There was also a more general view amongst practitioners in this research that safeguarders have disproportionate influence on decision making by Hearings. These perceptions were not fully borne out when children’s cases were examined. In almost all cases Hearings’ decisions agreed with the social work or multi-agency recommendations. The perception that Hearings do not always focus on or trust social worker’ assessments and recommendations in making decisions is of long standing and has been repeatedly found in research. This perception is therefore very real for professionals, especially social workers. This research shows that the level of trust placed on the information (both written and verbal) considered in Hearings decision making is heavily dependent on the professional relationships between practitioners, particularly between social workers and Panel Members. It is also very dependent on the format and quality of reports presented to Hearings. The findings are not unique to Hearings decisions on home CSOs and, as found in previous studies, illustrate a wider issue in the Hearings System on perceptions of trust and respect between different practitioners and the evidence they provide to support decision making

Decision making in Children's Hearings.

This is one of a series of reports on research on the effectiveness of Compulsory Supervision Orders where the child remains at home with their parents (home CSOs); also known as being looked after at home. There has been criticism of the use of home CSOs. It has been claimed that they are being used inappropriately and that Children’s Hearings are disproportionately influenced by the availability of resources in making decisions. Yet there is limited information on why Children’s Panel Members decide to make a home CSO. This is the first study to examine Hearings decision making on home CSOs. It did so through a combination of examination of Hearings reasons for making, continuing or terminating home CSOs and the views of social workers, Panel Members and Children’s Reporters. Four main factors were found to influence Hearings decisions – 1. availability and quality of evidence; 2. child’s age in terms of attachment, resilience, and ability to express their views; 3. cumulative vs. acute risks and thresholds of intervention; and 4. communication between professionals, with children and parents, and within the Hearing. The emphasis on the evidence for Hearings is not new. Panel Members described their sense of responsibility in deciding whether a child could be supported at home with a CSO. Having information that is clear, accurate and factual ensures that their decision is evidence based and proportionate to the child’s needs. The child’s age emerged as a major factor in whether a home CSO was made and how long it would last. Older children were viewed as more resilient and statutory interventions taken after an accumulation of risk. Whereas for younger children interventions were made more immediately at points of crisis. The visibility of older children to universal services was described as a protective factor that may influence earlier termination of their home CSOs. This raises questions about how the early and effective intervention approach is being applied to older children. Are these children being exposed to risks for too long before statutory interventions are considered necessary and made? Attachment of a child to family members was an important consideration in deciding whether a child could remain at home with support of a CSO. Decision makers had to weigh up if the detriment to a child would be greater being removed from parents and siblings than from remaining in a poor home environment. Engagement of parents was described as being key in this decision - if they would accept support then a home CSO may be best for their child. The availability of resources and supports was not raised as important making, and this supports the findings in another part of this research that children and factor in decision the majority of young people with home CSOs and/or provided with a range of services. The factors found to influence Hearings and who had care plans were being offered decision making on home CSOs are no different to their considerations when deciding to make CSOs away from home. It was clear that Panel Members, Reporters and social workers are striving to make decisions that are in the best interests of the child

Educational attendance and offending outcomes.

This is the last in a series of seven research reports on the effectiveness of Compulsory Supervision Orders where the child remains at home with their parent(s) (home CSOs). In the Children’s Hearings System, the most common legal measure made for 12 to 16 years olds is to be ‘looked after’ at home on a CSO. In 2020, home CSOs accounted for 46% of all the 8,875 CSOs in place, meaning that 4,071 children in Scotland were looked after at home. The most common reasons for these home CSOs to be made are that the child is not going to school or is committing offences. This research looked at the effectiveness of home CSOs in improving school attendance and in reducing the volume and gravity of offending. The sample comprised of 172 children from across Scotland. Data on school attendance, numbers of offences and gravity of offences were collected at three time points – pre-home CSO and one and two years after it was made - and analysed using inferential statistics. There was a significant increase in school attendance from a mean of 45% attendance before the home CSO to 57% after a year. There were no significant changes in the volume and gravity of children’s offending after their home CSOs were made. The circumstances of these children are more complex than them simply not going to school or committing offences. There were concerns for these children across all aspects of their wellbeing, some of which were about the children’s own behaviour but most related to how they were cared for and treated by others. For the children in this study, their home CSOs were made when their truancy or offending were already entrenched. That their home CSOs resulted in significant improvements in school attendance indicates that this intervention can be successful. It is more difficult to determine the efficacy of home CSOs in addressing children’s offending

Complexity in the lives of looked after children and their families in Scotland: 2003 to 2016

This research sought to answer the question: Has child protection in Scotland become more complex over time, and if so, how? To do this we examined changes in complexity in: 1) Society. 2) The Children’s Hearings System and associated legislation and practice. 3) The lives of looked after children aged under three years and their families. To do this we developed a method to measure changes in complexity in the lives of looked children, and used it to assess complexity in the first three years of the lives of children born in 2003 compared to those born in 2013. Results: Changing complexity in looked after children’s lives: Increases: a) Extent of family fragmentation - separation of children from their parents and siblings. This was directly linked to changes in child protection practice resulting in more children aged under three years being removed from their parents’ care. b) Residence with child who is not a sibling. c) Number of changes in Compulsory Supervision Orders (CSOs). Contributory factors were increases in numbers of children with permanence plans, supervised contact with parents and earlier age of being taken into care. d) Number of problems faced by parents, especially criminality. But, the frequencies of many individual parental problems were high over time suggesting a stable population of high risk parents with multiple serious problems. Each of the following parental problems were present in over 50% of the families studied: victim of abuse; perpetrator of abuse; abused drugs; committed an offence; mental illness; inappropriate relationships; difficult childhood; unemployed; and/or was in a volatile relationship. e) Presence of legal representatives in Hearings and number of relevant persons - both are directly linked to changes in legislation. f) Over the past two decades in Scotland in general (i.e. not specifically amongst families of looked after children), complexity resulting from ethnic diversity and drug and alcohol abuse have increased. Decreases: a)SIMD (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation) at birth – the first residence of children born in 2003 had lower SIMD than those born in 2013. This change reflects the increase over time in the number of children who went directly from hospital after birth into foster care, since foster carers tended to live in more affluent areas than did birth parents. b) Number of changes of co-residents experienced by child. This again was linked to the increased practice of placing children with foster carers from birth. No changes: a) Sibling group size b)Rates of parental separation c) Rates of problems in extended family d) Rates of problems for family in community e) Number of places of residence f) Number of concurrent residences g) Number of changes of key worker h) Number of child problems i) Number of organisations working with family. We found that inter-agency complexity has, in general, not increased over the time. We also found that many of these types of complexity have remained consistently high (e.g. over 40% of families had problems in their community and extended family, over 70% of parents separated in the first three years of their child’s life, and a fifth of children were premature or had low birth weights). Frequencies of complex Children’s Hearings-related events from 2003-04 to 2015-16: Increase of 19% - Child Protection Orders; increase of 87% - Pre-Hearing Panels/ Business meetings; increase of 115% - Appeals; increase of 137% - Interim Compulsory Supervision Orders/ Warrants; increase of 191% - Non Disclosure Orders; decrease of 0.2% - Hearing held; decrease of 2% - children with CSOs; decrease of 8% - applications for proof concluded. In addition, there was an 88% increase in the number of pieces of legislation related to the Hearings System between 1998 and 2017. Conclusion: This research has provided evidence to answer conclusively that: Yes - child protection in Scotland has become more complex over time. There are multiple factors that affect the care and protection of children which have become more complex, in particular the extent of problems faced by parents. Legislation and practice changes to protect looked after children have also added complexity to the lives of vulnerable families both directly through their involvement in legal processes and indirectly through increased family fragmentation through interventions to take children into care. This increased complexity in child protection has implications for all those working within the Hearings System, especially for the training of Children’s Panel Members and professionals, and in their decision making to protect vulnerable children. Importantly, it has implications for those families who find themselves involved in an increasingly complex legal system