Changes in out of home care and permanence planning among young children in Scotland, 2003 to 2017

Abstract

UK policy has increasingly promoted early intervention and permanence planning for children who experience, or are at risk of experiencing, abuse or neglect, raising the question of whether these practices have actually increased 'on the ground.' There is already evidence of increased early intervention, in the form of out of home care, in England, as well as Australia and Canada, but thus far we do not know whether early out of home care is increasing in Scotland. Furthermore, there is no research investigating whether rates of permanence planning have changed anywhere in the UK. The current study addressed these gaps through a comparison of two samples of children in Scotland: 110 children born in 2003, and 117 born in 2013, all of whom were placed under compulsory measures of supervision prior to three years of age. The 2013 cohort was significantly more likely than the 2003 cohort to be removed from their parents at birth; to reside away from parents throughout the first three years of life; and to reside away from parents at three years of age. Significantly more of the 2013 cohort than the 2003 cohort had a plan for permanence by three years. These findings are consistent with the view that policy changes in the UK are impacting practice (although practice changes may have resulted from other sources as well / instead). The fall in parental care was largely compensated by an increase in the use of foster care, which has resource implications. Children removed from their parents at birth were usually not returned in the first three years of life, not raised by extended family members, and were separated from one or more siblings. This typically reduced instability for young children, but also entailed substantial birth family fragmentation. The impact on children and families of early removal into foster care must therefore be carefully assessed in light of the increasing prevalence of this practice in Scotland and elsewhere.

Adoption and permanence planning in Scotland: Impact of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 on key processes and timescales

“…Aimed at reducing waiting times across the process though a whole systems approach, work is underway to consider issues such as assessment and intervention as well as wider consideration of leadership and culture. There is emerging evidence that the Permanence and Care Excellence approach may be starting to take effect with recent research finding that there has been an increase in number of young children in Scotland having permanence plans in place before they are 3 years old (Woods & Henderson, forthcoming). Our findings that in Scotland legislative change in itself appears to have had little impact on care and permanence planning for looked‐after children have resonance with conclusions of Lord Lamming's () review of child protection in England that although legislation, policies, and procedures are important and necessary, it is the robust and consistent implementation of them by services that effects real change.…”

‘The lion's den’: Social workers' understandings of risk to infants

“…Significant increases in the actual numbers of newborn and very young infants subject to protective processes and measures have been found in England (Broadhurst et al, 2018). Furthermore, the proportion of infants in the overall population of children cared for away from home has increased, in England (Broadhurst et al, 2018), and in Scotland (Biehal, Cusworth, Hooper, Whincup, & Shapira, 2019; Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA), 2019; Scottish Government, 2019; Woods & Henderson, 2018). For those infants removed at birth there is a link to later permanence arrangements outside the immediate birth family.…”

“…The choices made by parents during the pregnancy may also be taken into account in the grounds for any legal steps later enacted. Increasing numbers of newborn babies and infants find themselves subject to care proceedings and separation from birth family in Scotland (Scottish Government, 2019; Woods & Henderson, 2018), a trend that has been noted in other countries with child protection systems focusing on immediate risk (Broadhurst et al, 2018; Marsh, Brownea, Taylora, & Davis, 2017; O'Donnell, Maclean, Sims, et al, 2016). Yet there has been little exploration of the elements of pre‐birth practice that may be contributing to these decisions.…”

Jumping Through Hoops: Families’ Experiences of Pre-birth Child Protection

“…This poses considerable ethical problems, particularly as the expectant parents are involuntary service users participating in a process which it is assumed they would much prefer to avoid' (Corner, 1997, 16, cited by Hodson andDeery 2014, 6-7). The notable increase in the number of newborn and very young infants becoming looked after by the state at or soon after birth has become a focus for research in recent years (Broadhurst et al 2018, Woods andHenderson, 2018). Description and interrogation of what appears to be a trend for an increasingly assertive response to risk in infancy in the U.K. is to be welcomed.…”