The impact of parental employment and unemployment on children and young people

Over recent decades there have been dramatic changes in the employment patterns of men and women, with particularly significant increases in employment rates among mothers. Government policy has also increasingly given attention to encouraging parents, particularly lone mothers, into work, with a focus on paid work as a defence against poverty. These trends and policy changes affect the everyday lives of both parents and children, and give rise to questions about the potential impact that parental employment patterns have on children and young people. The main aim of this thesis was to investigate any relationships between patterns of parental employment and young people's educational and emotional well-being. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey and its associated Youth Panel, logistic regression techniques were used to assess the association between parental employment patterns and a number of outcomes. A forms of capital (Bourdieu, 1983) approach was adopted to contextualise and explain the relationships between parental employment patterns and outcomes for young people. The main conclusions are that parental employment and unemployment impact upon young people's outcomes in a number of ways, with different mechanisms observed for different outcomes. Young people living in a currently workless household were more likely to have poorer educational outcomes (truancy, leaving school at age 16), operating through the impact on family socio-economic circumstances (financial capital). Maternal part-time employment appeared to offer young people some protection against poor emotional well-being, operating through a mechanism of social capital. The influence of parental employment patterns on the formation of educational attitudes and expectations appeared to operate through a mechanism of cultural norms and expectations (cultural capital). Understanding the impact of parental employment patterns on outcomes for adolescents, using this recent data source, offers a key contribution to the literature and to policy debates

Linking administrative datasets about looked after children. Insights for policymakers and practitioners

The Scottish Government’s Looked After Children Data Strategy (2015) seeks to provide a robust and reliable body of data to realise the policy ambitions set out in the Scottish Government’s strategy Getting it right for looked after children and young people: Early Engagement, Early Permanence and Improving the Quality of Care. The Data Strategy specifically seeks to enhance knowledge of the outcomes for looked after children through linking administrative datasets to provide a broader evidence base and inform more effective interventions. The Permanently Progressing? Building secure futures for children in Scotland study is following the progress of all children who became looked after in Scotland aged five or under in 2012-2013 (n=1,836). In Phase One (2014-2018), the study tested the feasibility of linking administrative data from the Children Looked After Statistics (CLAS) with data from the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) and created a linked dataset. This briefing paper summarises key finding and contributes towards the discussion on how best to maximise the potential of rich data to underpin effective policymaking and interventions regarding looked after children in Scotland. Key findings Linkage of CLAS and SCRA data was possible, but time consuming and complex. Using date of birth, gender and local authority as identifiers, records were successfully matched for 1,000 children. Across the total sample, 67% of children had records which matched as expected, leaving 33% where records either did not match or matched unexpectedly. There was considerable variation across local authorities in the rate at which data matched; from 54% to 97%. Two fifths (418) of the 1,000 linked children had a previous referral recorded by SCRA. Almost 60% of the children who had a previous referral were under one year old at the time. For most (88%) of the 418 children, the previous referral did not lead to a Children’s Hearing. For one in five children there was an appeal to the sheriff, but for the majority (81%) there was no appeal

Children looked after away from home aged five and under in Scotland: experiences, pathways and outcomes. 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. Permanently Progressing? Building secure futures for children in Scotland is the first study in Scotland to investigate decision making, permanence, progress, outcomes and belonging for all children who became ‘looked after’ in 2012-2013 when they were aged five and under (n=1,836). Of those 1,836 children, 1,355 were looked after away from home, and 481 were looked after at home. The study included analysis of data from questionnaires completed by social workers, carers or adoptive parents, interviews and focus groups with decision-makers, interviews with carers and adoptive parents, and ‘play and talk’ sessions with children. This briefing paper summarises key findings on the histories, progress and outcomes for a sample of the 1,355 children three to four years after they became looked after away from home. It draws on three sources of information: social worker survey data for 433 children, caregiver survey data for 166 children, and the Children Looked After Statistics (CLAS). It investigates the association between patterns of maltreatment, placement status, and children’s subsequent wellbeing, offering insights for policymakers and practitioners. Key findings The children in this sample experienced significant levels of maltreatment before becoming looked after away from home. There is no evidence to demonstrate that the threshold to accommodate children aged five and under is low. Alcohol and substance misuse, mental health difficulties and domestic violence frequently contributed to compromised parenting capacity. This was often within a context of multiple family difficulties. Neglect was a significant feature of the childhood experiences of parents of children on an adoption pathway. Key predictors of children’s later permanence status included disability, experience of maltreatment, the age at which they became looked after, and the childhood experiences of their parents. Three to four years after becoming looked after away from home, children were reported to have rates of emotional and behavioural difficulties two to three times greater than their peers. Children who were accommodated and placed with carers and adoptive parents earlier, and who remained there, were generally doing better at school and had more friends. Levels of support for children in kinship care, foster care, and with adoptive parents varied, with kinship carers and the children in their care receiving less support

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

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. 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

Linking two administrative datasets about looked after children: testing feasibility and enhancing understanding

This report on the linkage of Children Looked After Statistics (CLAS) with data from Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) is one strand 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 away from home (with kinship carers, foster carers or prospective adopters) when they were aged five and under. Phase One ran from 2014-18 and is designed to be the first phase in a longitudinal study following a large cohort of young children into adolescence and beyond. Phase One was funded by a legacy and was undertaken by a team from the universities of Stirling, York and Lancaster in conjunction with Adoption and Fostering Alliance (AFA) Scotland

Permanently Progressing? Building Secure Futures for Children in Scotland: Linking two national datasets about looked after children in Scotland to enhance understanding of pathways to permanence

Background Permanently Progressing? is the first cohort study in Scotland aimed at understanding the factors associated with achieving settled and secure permanent homes for children. One part of this study involves analysing the national Children Looked After Statistics (CLAS) collected by the Scottish Government, to follow a group of children who became ‘looked after’ or ‘looked after and accommodated’ aged five or under. However, important decisions about these children are made at Children’s Hearings and the information about these decisions is stored in a database collated by the Scottish Children’s Reporters Administration (SCRA). Objectives As these two datasets have never before been linked, the researchers aim to test the feasibility and success of this linkage. In addition, analysis of the linked dataset will allow both a description of the pathways of children who became looked after in 2012-13, and a comparison of the pathways for children who have achieved permanence at the end of year 4 to those who are on a pathway to permanence, and those still accommodated with no evident permanence plan. Methods In this project, the anonymised CLAS data obtained from the Scottish Government are being brought together with anonymised data held by SCRA, using probabilistic linkage methodologies. Findings The linkage and analysis of this data is currently underway and will be discussed during this presentation. Conclusions If successful, this linkage will serve as a pilot study for future research, help inform policy and practice, and enable the researchers to gain a more in-depth picture of a child’s journey through the system and the factors associated with children achieving permanence. The success of this linkage and challenges encountered will be discussed

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