Permanently Progressing? Building secure futures for children looked after in Scotland - new report published today

New report published today

Scotland’s care system is taking years to find many of the country's most vulnerable children permanent homes – and too many of them have no contact with their siblings, according to new research, published today.

The study of more than 1,800 children ‘looked after’ in Scotland reveals that it took, on average, more than two years to find them a permanent home, and more than one in ten were in temporary placements 10 years after becoming looked after.

The research team, including Dr Linda Cusworth from the Centre for Child and Family Justice Research, found 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 Permanently Progressing longitudinal study, led by the University of Stirling in collaboration with Lancaster University, and the Association for Fostering, Kinship & Adoption Scotland (AFKA), follows the lives of all 1,836 children who became looked after in Scotland aged five or under in 2012-13, tracking their progress from infant to adult. Through analysis of administrative data – the Children Looked After Statistics (CLAS) up to the end of July 2022 and education data - and surveys of social workers and kinship carers (usually relatives), foster carers and adoptive parents. The team also interviewed caregivers across adoptive, kin and foster families, children and young people, and birth parents.

The final report is available here.

A number of different summaries are also available:

- an accessible summary for children and young people [available here]

- a short summary for caregivers and professionals [available here]

- a summary focusing on the experiences of birth-parents [available here]

- a policy summary [available here]

- and an executive summary of the report

For further information, contact Linda Cusworth (l.cusworth@lancaster.ac.uk)