Suchergebnisse

BackgroundPermanently Progressing? Building secure futures for children in Scotland is the first study in Scotland to investigate decision making, permanence, progress, outcomes and belonging for children who became looked after aged five or under. A significant proportion of these children become looked after away from home in the first few weeks after birth. It is important to understand more about the circumstances in which accommodation occurs, and the pathways and outcomes for these children.
MethodsAnonymised child-level data (Children Looked After Statistics) was provided by the Scottish Government on the total cohort of 1,355 children in all 32 local authorities who started to be looked after away from home in 2012-13 aged five and under. Pathways and timescales to permanence were tracked between 2012-2016 using this administrative data. For a sub-group of 433 children, information on histories, progress and outcomes 3-4 years after they became looked after was gathered from surveys of adoptive parents, foster and kinship carers, and social workers.
Results/conclusion This paper will discuss key findings from the study, in relation to those who became looked after soon after birth. Nearly half of those looked after away from home were under one year old when removed from parents, including 250 (18%) less than seven days old. These younger children were more likely to be looked after on an emergency basis, less likely to be placed with kinship carers, and more likely to have been adopted 3-4 years later, than those looked after when older. The complementary use of survey and administrative data is important. Evidence from the surveys of carers and social workers enhances our understanding of the circumstances around removal (including experience of maltreatment, removal of siblings, and parental substance misuse), and suggests that outcomes (emotional, behavioural and attachment) were generally better for children who were accommodated and placed with carers and adoptive parents at an earlier age and remained there.

Background with rationaleEvery year all 32 local authorities in Scotland provide information on looked after children in their area to the Scottish Government. This forms the basis for the annual Children Looked After Statistics (CLAS). Information is also collected by Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA) on all children who are involved in the Children's Hearings System. Until now these two data sets had never been linked.
Main Aim To test the feasibility and success of the linkage on the basis that these datasets had not previously been linked, and if linkage was possible, use this data to enhance our understanding of the child and process factors associated with pathways to permanence or lack of permanence.
Methods/ApproachVeterans were identified using the South London and Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre (SLaM) case register – a database holding secondary mental health care electronic records for the South London and Maudsley National Health Service Trust of 300,000 patients. We developed two methods. An NLP and machine learning tool were developed to automatically evaluate personal history statements written by clinicians.
ResultsFor the first time, as part of the Permanently Progressing? Building secure futures for children in Scotland study, these two data sets were linked safely and successfully for 1,000 children who became looked after in 2012-13 when they were aged five and under.
The linkage provided important new information for practitioners and policymakers. In this presentation we will focus on the key findings, such as what it told us about previous referrals and methodological insights regarding these data sets and their linkage.
ConclusionThe data linkage process was complex and time-consuming but possible. The data we were able to link provided valuable information that enhanced our understanding of child and process factors.

Background with rationaleChild protection systems aim to protect children from harm. Child protection research shares the same goal. However, the process of undertaking this research can present a risk. For child protection research using administrative data, children and families are at risk through breaches of privacy and identification, and further ethical issues of fair and necessary processing. This can be particularly challenging for countries such as Scotland, where smaller communities may mean children and families are more easily identifiable. For researchers and data gatekeepers alike, it is our duty to protect children in every way that we can throughout the process.
Main AimThis paper aims to discuss with delegates the importance of protecting children during child protection research using administrative data, and some of the ways this can be done.
Methods/ApproachThe paper will use an example of a recent research study which used administrative data from child protection systems in Scotland – Permanently Progressing? Building secure futures for children in Scotland. The methods used to protect children within this research and the lessons learned will be discussed. Input from delegates and the sharing of experiences will be most welcome throughout.
Results and ConclusionChild protection research using administrative data often aim to inform and improve child protection systems. Such research can thereby enable more effective protection. However, such a research process raises its own child protection challenges, both to researchers and to the gatekeepers of this data. Despite this, although tricky at times to navigate, risks can be reduced through thoughtful care and consideration of these issues throughout the research process, from application to publication.

BackgroundPermanently 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).
ObjectivesAs 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.
MethodsIn 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.
FindingsThe linkage and analysis of this data is currently underway and will be discussed during this presentation.
ConclusionsIf 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.

AbstractThis paper examined relationships between area‐level deprivation, local authorities' social care expenditure and the rates of children entering care proceedings in England using a novel data linkage of de‐identified records provided by the Children and Family Court Advisory Service (Cafcass). Using structural equation modelling, the authors found strong positive relationships between socioeconomic area deprivation and high rates of children undergoing care proceedings in England between 2015 and 2019. Preventative social care expenditure is associated with lower child rates when adjusting for deprivation. Our findings suggest that deprived and underfunded local authorities respond to an increased need by prioritizing care arrangements.

Abstract
Previous research has highlighted the poor educational attainment of children in out-of-home care, until relatively recently seen as a potential failure of the care system itself. However, the relationship between care and education outcomes is complex. It is important to disentangle the impact of the care system from that of adverse circumstances leading to admission to care. In this study, educational outcomes for 68 children (aged 3–9 years) in foster-care due to concerns about abuse or neglect were compared to those for 166 children with current or past child welfare involvement living at home. Data from teacher assessments of communication and literacy, and a standardized measure of receptive vocabulary were analysed. Accounting for key differences between the two groups, there was little evidence that educational attainment of children in care was significantly worse than that of children living at home. The findings suggest that being in care is unlikely to be the direct cause of poor educational achievement amongst children in care relative to the wider population of children. The study has implications for the ways in which schools and other services, both across the UK and internationally, work with children in and on the margins of care.

BackgroundEach 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.
ObjectivesThe 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.
MethodsUsing 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).
FindingsThe 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.
ConclusionsThis 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.

The number of children referred to the English child protection system and the numbers receiving home-based intervention or placed in out of home care have been rising in recent years. It is difficult to judge whether these changes indicate that thresholds for intervention are low or high, as we know little about the severity of the maltreatment that draws children into the child protection system in England. This study compared the histories, circumstances and pathways of children receiving quasi-compulsory home-based support (under a child protection plan) to those for children ever placed in out of home care. It collected detailed data from the social workers of 390 children and is the first UK study to include a standardised measure of the severity of maltreatment, the Modified Maltreatment Classification System (MMCS). It found that the vast majority of children had experienced multiple types of maltreatment, including at least one type of high severity, suggesting that thresholds for the use of child protection plans and placement were high. The strongest predictors of placement (as opposed to home-based support) were severity of maltreatment, being unborn or under one year old at referral, being disabled and experiencing physical abuse. Findings are discussed in the context of developments in policy and services under the English government's austerity programme.

ObjectivesWe aim to determine the proportion of infants entering care in Wales via the two primary legal routes (section 76 of the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014, and section 31 of the Children Act 1989), and associations between mode of entry and infant characteristics and outcomes.
ApproachThis is a longitudinal cohort study using routinely collected data held in the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank. We will link the Looked After Children dataset with family justice (Cafcass Cymru) data on section 31 proceedings, to explore pathways through the care and family justice systems for infants aged <1 year entering care in Wales between 2012 and 2019. We will follow up each child for two years from the date of their entry into care to track legal outcomes (final legal orders) and placement outcomes (placement type, number of placements, and re-entry into the care system).
ResultsDescriptive statistics will include frequencies and proportions of infants who initially enter the care system via voluntary arrangements (section 76) and care proceedings (section 31), by age, year, local authority, and category of need. We will describe the proportion and characteristics of those with voluntary arrangements who later become the subject of care proceedings, and the distribution of final legal orders and placement types by initial route of entry to care. We will use funnel plots to investigate variation between local authorities. We will use linear regression to test for statistically significant differences in the proportions of infants entering care via the two different routes over time, and chi-square tests to investigate associations between mode of entry and infant characteristics and outcomes.
ConclusionThere is limited information on the care journeys of children in Wales at the individual level. This study will help us to understand the patterns of use of voluntary arrangements for infants over time, the proportion subsequently involved in section 31 applications and the impact on outcomes for children.