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One of the key arguments put forward for the benefits of kinship placements is that they are likely to provide permanency for children. However, little is known about the factors which promote placement stability or the reasons for placement disruption. Eleanor Lutman, Joan Hunt and Suzette Waterhouse examine placement stability and disruption for a cohort of children placed in kinship care through care proceedings (Hunt et al, 2008). When compared with disruption rates for other forms of care, it appears that for younger children kinship care can be a positive option but the figures are less positive for older children. However, after disruption over half of the kinship-placed children remained within their family networks and many kinship carers retained a positive relationship with the child. The findings indicate placements of older children, placements with aunts/uncles and placements where the carer and child are less familiar with each other are more likely to disrupt and thus may need more support.

Since practitioners have little research to inform them about how to keep neglected children safe and improve their outcomes, we conducted a study about how risks are managed over time. The research in seven local authorities involved 138 neglected children who were returned from care to their parents and followed up for another five years through reviews of case files and interviews with social workers.Work with neglected children and their families was dogged by 'inescapable errors', which we argue will always occur in work over time and need to be deliberately interrupted. Parents were difficult to engage, and over time abuse and neglect were often minimised so that referrals about harm to children did not lead to sufficient protective action. Parents were given too many chances to change, and files lacked information on the development of children on which decisions about intervention could be based. Using written contracts with parents would assist practitioners to assess parental capacity to make the changes required. A new approach to working with neglected children is required which will allow patterns of children's developmental and other progress to be recognised over time, rooted in collecting evidence which could be used in care proceedings if required.

The purpose of this paper is to explore negative peer interactions in foster care. Looked after children and young people have highlighted the impact of negative peer interactions, and especially peer violence and intimidation, on their care experiences. However, to date, no specific fostering research has addressed this important issue. In response to this gap, we undertook focus groups with 32 foster carers in the South West of England. Group discussions were semi-structured based around the issue of negative peer interactions in foster care. The analysis revealed five main associated themes: the impact on the carers' birth children; a lack of placement planning; inadequate referral information; a negative view of social work support; and insufficient external interventions. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGES:• Negative peer interactions, particularly violence, were a major concern for foster carers, especially if they negatively impacted on the welfare of carers' birth children.• An absence of pre-placement referral information on negative peer interactions was commonly reported and placed all children in the fostering household at risk.• Associated social work support and external interventions were often perceived as lacking and inadequate.• Fostering procedures, review and decisions need to recognise the impact of peer violence on all members of the fostering household.KEY WORDS: safeguarding children; foster care; peer violence; behaviour difficulties; outcomes O ver the past two decades, substantial concerns have been raised regarding the experiences and outcomes of children and young people in the care system. Most children enter care due to abuse and neglect, and represent some of the most troubled and vulnerable children in society. However, too often their needs are not adequately met and children's and young people's accounts

Whilst a small amount of research has been undertaken on peer violence in residential settings, very little is known about peer violence in foster care. This paper reviews the published research since 1995 about the nature and extent of peer violence in foster care and interventions for preventing and managing these negative peer interactions. The evidence indicates that young people in foster care can be the instigators and recipients of peer violence, but the limited number of studies found means that conclusions cannot be drawn about the extent of the problem. There is some evidence about the impact of this type of violence on young people and fostering households. However, there remain gaps in the evidence about the full extent of all forms of exploitation and violence that are experienced and instigated by young people in foster care, the circumstances in which it takes place, the young people affected and its co‐occurrence with other difficulties. Critically, young people's views were largely absent from included studies, an important area that requires further research.