The effectiveness of adolescent support teams

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Decision Making for Looked After Children in Scotland. Insights for policymakers and practitioners

Every year thousands of children in Scotland become looked after either at home or away from home. Many of those children will remain with or be reunified with their parents, but others will be placed permanently with kinship carers, foster carers or adoptive parents. The decisions made will have far-reaching consequences for children and their families, so it is important to understand what factors influence decision making processes. This briefing paper draws on findings from Phase One of the Permanently Progressing? Building secure futures for children in Scotland research study (2014-2018). The study followed the progress of all children who became looked after in Scotland aged five or under in 2012-2013 (n=1,836) investigating decision making, pathways, and outcomes. This paper provides insights into the processes and pressures that influence decision making for looked after children in Scotland. It is produced at a time when systems are under review given that in 2017 the Scottish Government established the Independent Care Review, examining the underpinning legislation, practices, culture and ethos of Scotland’s care system. Key findings The legislative, policy and practice context for permanence decisions in Scotland is complex. The range of options offers flexibility to tailor decisions to a child’s needs but is potentially overwhelming. Decision making can be driven by processes and policies rather than a child’s specific needs. Use of legislation and guidance varies across Scotland, with differences in local practice. Making decisions is intellectually and emotionally challenging. The interface between local authorities, Children’s Hearings and courts was characterised as difficult and complicated; the focus can shift from the child to the dynamic between the systems and individuals involved. Decisions are influenced by capacity issues in terms of time, resources (including availability and number of carers or adoptive parents) and the skills and knowledge of professionals. The formalisation of kinship care has been a positive development, however, it does not meet the needs of all children and an emphasis on kinship care may exclude some children from other forms of permanence

Decision making for children

Every year thousands of children in Scotland become looked after either at home or away from home. Many of those children will remain with or be reunified with their parents, but others will be placed permanently with kinship carers, foster carers or adoptive parents. The decisions made will have far-reaching consequences for children and their families, so it is important to understand what factors influence decision making processes. This report draws on findings from Phase One of the Permanently Progressing? Building secure futures for children in Scotland research study (2014-2018). The study followed the progress of all children who became looked after in Scotland aged five or under in 2012-2013 (n=1,836) investigating decision making, pathways, and outcomes. This report provides insights into the processes and pressures that influence decision making for looked after children in Scotland

Keeping children safe : allegations concerning the abuse or neglect of children in care

For most looked after children and young people, foster and residential care provides a safe environment. This study has focused on the minority of children who do not always receive safe care and who, in some instances, experience abuse or neglect at the hands of those responsible for ensuring their wellbeing. Despite long-standing concerns about historic abuse in children's homes and about the implications of allegations for foster carers and their families, very little is known about the extent of these allegations. We know even less about the proportion of allegations that are substantiated, the nature of the abuse and neglect experienced by some children in care settings and the characteristics of the adults and children involved. The aim of this study was to investigate these important questions. It provides new UK evidence on: * the number of allegations against foster carers and residential social workers and the proportion of these that are substantiated * the extent and nature of confirmed abuse and neglect in foster and residential care * the characteristics of the children and adults concerned

Pathways to permanence for children who become looked after in Scotland

As its name suggests, a key concern of the Permanently Progressing? Building secure futures for children in Scotland study is the question of permanence for children who become looked after away from home. The aim of permanency planning is to ensure that children have a permanent home which can provide them with the physical and relational stability, and the emotional security essential to child development. Depending on their histories and circumstances, children may find a permanent home through reunification with their parents, permanent placement with kin (or in some cases with friends) either within or outwith the looked after system, or through long-term fostering or adoption

Pathways to Permanence for children who become looked after in Scotland. Insights for policymakers and practitioners

Statistics from 2018 (Scottish Government 2019) show that 14,738 children were looked after in Scotland (at 31st July 2018). Many children who become looked after away from home will return to their parents, but for some the decision is taken to permanently place them with kinship carers, long-term foster carers or adoptive parents. Until now little was known about children’s pathways through the looked after system in Scotland, the balance of voluntary and compulsory intervention, and how patterns of placement change over time. Permanently Progressing? Building secure futures for children in Scotland is increasing understanding by following the progress of all children who became looked after in Scotland aged five or under in 2012-2013 (n=1,836) and investigating decision making, permanence, progress, and outcomes over a four-year period (until 2016). This briefing paper, drawing on findings from Phase One of the project, provides insights into the pathways and timescales to permanence for looked after children in Scotland, with implications for policymakers and practitioners. Key findings There was a statistically significant association between levels of deprivation and local rates of children looked after. Local rates may also reflect variation in the approaches of local authorities, Children’s Hearings and local judiciary. Almost half of children looked after away from home were initially looked after under Section 25 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (known as ‘voluntary’ accommodation). The majority of the children (87%) had a single continuous ‘episode’ of being looked after during the four-year period. However, an episode may include periods spent looked after at home and/or looked after away from home. As an episode may include placement moves, a ‘single episode’ does not necessarily mean the child experienced stability. The most common destination for children ceasing to be looked after away from home was a return home. The number of children looked after in kinship or foster care fell over the four years, reflecting a rise in the number of children who returned to parents, were placed with kin on Section 11 Orders or were adopted. Children who achieved permanence most quickly were those reunified with parents. A total of 212 children looked after away from home had been adopted by the end of Year 4. The adoption process was slow, with few children adopted before Year 3, and for half of the adopted children the adoption did not take place until three to four years after they started to be looked after. Children who were adopted or with prospective adopters by the end of the study were significantly younger when they started to be looked after away from home. For children looked after at home, the time spent on a Compulsory Supervision Order spiked at 9-12 months. This may reflect a response to legal requirements, as the maximum time a CSO can be in place without being reviewed by a Children’s Hearing is one year, suggesting that decision making may, in some cases, be system-driven rather than needs-led. For nearly one third of the children looked after away from home, there was no evidence that they were in a permanent placement three to four years after starting to be looked after

Permanently Progressing? Building Secure Futures for Children in Scotland: Pathways and outcomes for looked after children

Background Each year many children in Scotland who cannot be cared for by their birth parents become looked after by Local Authorities. Where reunification is not an option, children need to be settled as soon as possible in safe and secure alternative homes. However, more research evidence is needed to guide the placement decisions that are so crucial to children’s wellbeing. Objectives The Permanently Progressing? study aims to help identify factors that are associated with children achieving a permanent home. The study hopes to inform policy, planning and practice in relation to young children who cannot live with a birth parent. Methods Using the Children Looked After Statistics that are collected by the Scottish Government from all 32 Local Authorities, the study followed a group of children who became ‘looked after and accommodated’ at age five or under (n=1355) in 2012- 13. Children’s pathways through the system over a four-year period were investigated and compared to another group of children aged five or under who became ‘looked after’ in the same year but remained with their birth parent(s) at this time (n=481). Findings The paper discusses children’s pathways through the looked after system, together with factors which may influence these pathways, such as age when becoming looked after, number and type of placements, and types of permanence achieved 3-4 years after becoming looked after. Conclusions This longitudinal analysis of administrative data offers unique insights into factors that may influence child welfare system responses to vulnerable children, which will be discussed, along with issues surrounding the difficulties associated with the definition and measurement of outcomes using these data

Children looked after away from home aged five and under in Scotland: experiences, pathways and outcomes

Introduction: This report has been completed as one part of the Permanently Progressing? study. The study is the first in Scotland to investigate decision making, permanence, progress, outcomes, and belonging for children who became ‘looked after’ at home or were placed away from their birth parents (with kinship carers, foster carers or prospective adopters) when they were aged five and under. Phase One ran from 2014-18 and was designed to be the first phase in a longitudinal study following a large cohort of young children in to adolescence and beyond. The research was funded by a legacy, and Phase One was undertaken by a team from the universities of Stirling, York, and Lancaster, in conjunction with the Adoption and Fostering Alliance (AFA) Scotland. It is anticipated that Phase Two will commence in 2020. A core focus of the overall study is the concept and experience of permanence, and within Scotland there are different routes to permanence for children3 , including remaining with or being reunified to birth parents. The aim of this particular strand was to investigate the experiences, pathways, and outcomes4 of children who became looked after away from home, together with the factors associated with achieving permanence. In this context, the concept of permanence refers to physical stability (a child remaining with a committed, long-term caregiver), legal permanence (a caregiver having legal responsibility for a child), and an emotional attachment between a child and the caregiver, which together may give children a sense of emotional or ‘felt’ security, continuity and belonging. This report presents important new findings on the characteristics, histories, decision making, and outcomes for 433 children who became looked after away from home during 2012-13, and remained (or were again) looked after away from home one year later