Serious Scottish care challenges revealed
New research has found it’s taking years to find the country’s most vulnerable children permanent homes and too many of them have no contact with their siblings.
Today, Tuesday 10th September, key findings of a study focused on children in care in Scotland were published at a conference in Stirling. This is the second stage of the study and was led by the University of Stirling in partnership with Lancaster University and the Association of Fostering, Kinship & Adoption Scotland (AFKA).
Experts looked into the lives of 1,836 children who became ‘looked after’ in Scotland from the age of five or under and tracked their progress from infant to adult.
Upsettingly, the research found that in Scotland it took, on average, more than two years to find vulnerable children in care a permanent home and more than one in 10 were in temporary placements 10 years after entering the care system.
What’s more, researchers discovered that 91% of children had experienced maltreatment before being taken into care, and that the proportion of children with emotional and behavioural problems, as reported by caregivers, was five times higher than that seen in the general population of children.
The study also found that the whereabouts of nearly one in 10 (9%) of children was unclear in the administrative data, as there was a lack of ‘crucial’ information.
Dr Helen Whincup, senior lecturer in social work at the University of Stirling, who led the study, said: ‘Despite the numbers of children and families involved, there have been gaps in what is known about children’s pathways through the care system, their route and time to living in permanent families, and what influences outcomes and wellbeing. Since 2014, the research team have been addressing these gaps by gathering and analysing data.’
Other findings from the study include:
- Decisions made early in children’s lives influenced their permanence status in 2022, with children becoming looked after under the age of one more likely to be adopted.
- Contact with brothers and sisters varied according to where children lived (kinship care, foster care, or if they were adopted).
- Some had several moves – almost two-thirds (64%) of children who had ever been looked after away from home had two or more placements, and one in 10 (10%) children had five or more.
Dr Whincup said: ‘The Children Looked After Statistics can tell us whether children are adopted, but not whether the adoption has broken down. This is a major gap given the impact of breakdown for children and their families, and the support they are likely to require. This gap could be closed if administrative data recorded whether children entering care were previously adopted.’
She added: ‘While it is heartening that permanence has been achieved for most of the children, it is worrying that for many this took over two years – a long time in a child’s life.
‘It is also concerning that one in ten of children had five or more placements, and ten years after becoming looked after more than one in ten children were still, or again, in impermanent placements.
‘This is not what we would want for any child.’
The Permanently Progressing study, which can be found in full here, was funded by a philanthropic donor and the Nuffield Foundation.
Ash Patel, programme head justice at the Nuffield Foundation, said: ‘This pioneering research provides the richest and most textured insight into the experiences of children in the Scottish care system, highlighting their often-long journey towards permanence, living in a stable and loving home.
‘It is perhaps the most detailed study of its kind in the UK and provides a dynamic picture of the vulnerability and resilience of the children and their carers. In this important research, Dr Whincup and her colleagues also offer clear evidence base about the holistic care and support needed by both children and families.’
Image: chris robert
More on children in care:
Improved support for children and families in Kirklees praised by Ofsted
