Dr Helen Whincup: (Principal Investigator). Helen is a Senior Lecturer at University of Stirling, teaching primarily on the post-qualifying Masters in Applied Professional Studies (Child Welfare and Protection) and the Professional Supervision module. She is a qualified social worker with a practice background in children and families work, and practice and personal experience of adoption.
Dr Linda Cusworth: (Co-Investigator). Linda is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Child and Family Justice Research at Lancaster University. She is an experienced quantitative social researcher, and has worked as a researcher in child wellbeing, child protection and family justice for around 15 years. She has a passion for the use of administrative data and linked data in family justice research.
Dr Maggie Grant: (Co-Investigator). Maggie has worked in adoption and fostering research for 10 years. She is a Research Associate and Co-Founder at Adoption and Fostering Alliance Scotland.
Dr Alison Hennessy: (Lecturer). Alison is an educational researcher with a strong interest in the education of looked after children.
Jade Hooper: (Research Assistant). Jade is a Research Assistant and PhD Candidate based in the Faculty of Social Science at the University of Stirling.
Project Update September 2020: Funding confirmed for Phase 2
Permanently Progressing? Building secure futures for children: Middle childhood
RESEARCHERS led by the University of Stirling have won a £500,000 award from the Nuffield Foundation and a philanthropic donor, to carry out the next stage of ground-breaking work intended to improve the lives of children who become "looked-after" by the care systems.
In the largest UK study of its kind, between 2014 and 2018, the team followed the progress of every single child aged five and under who became looked-after in Scotland in the years 2012/2013, a total of 1,836 children.
The highly acclaimed study, published last year (2019) analysed the children's pre-care experiences, pathways and early outcomes. It used administrative data, surveys of caregivers and social workers, and interviews with children and caregivers.
Key findings of the Phase 1 of the study - titled Permanently Progressing? Building Secure Futures For Children In Scotland - were that a third of the children were still not in permanent placements after four years, and that adoption generally took more than two years.
Now the team, led by University of Stirling social work expert Dr Helen Whincup has been awarded the prestigious half-million pounds of funding to revisit the 1, 836 children.
In Phase 2 - titled Permanently Progressing? Middle Childhood - the team, comprising researchers from the University of Stirling, Lancaster University, and Adoption and Fostering Alliance (AFA) Scotland, will use administrative data, questionnaires and interviews to see where the children are now and how they are faring.
Dr Whincup said: "Phase 2 of this longitudinal study which will run until 2024, will provide important information for children, families, social work practitioners and policy-makers in Scotland and internationally, which in turn will result in more effective services and better outcomes for children and families."
Project update June 2019
Phase One of the study ran from October 2014 to December 2018. It investigated decision making, permanence, progress, outcomes and belonging for a large cohort (1,836 children) of all children in Scotland who became looked after in 2012-13, when they were aged five or under. Using national data from the Children Looked After Statistics (CLAS) we analysed children’s progress over four years (2012-2016). The study is the first to compare pathways and outcomes for such a large cohort of young children in Scotland. It is designed to be the first phase in a longitudinal study tracking children’s progress into adolescence and beyond.
Phase One of the study has five strands, with a report and summary for each strand, published on 20 June 2019.
Pathways to Permanence for children who become looked after in Scotland (Pathways strand): This analysed the CLAS data for 1,836 children over four years. The report presents detailed information on their routes to permanence and the timescales.
Linking two administrative data sets about looked after children: Testing feasibility and enhancing understanding (Linkage strand): Data on children is collected by the Scottish Government (CLAS data) and by Scottish Children’s Reporters Administration (SCRA). For the first time this study linked CLAS and SCRA data on 1,000 children. The report describes the process and the findings.
Children looked after away from home aged five and under in Scotland: experiences, pathways and outcomes (Outcomes strand): This presents findings from detailed questionnaires (433 social workers and 166 carers) alongside the CLAS data. The report provide valuable information about the circumstances of children and their families before they were accommodated, their pathways, current status and current wellbeing.
Decision making for children (Decision making strand): 160 decision makers across Scotland (including social workers, members of Children’s Hearings and Reporters to the Children’s Hearing) were interviewed about their perspectives on decision making.
Perspectives on kinship care, foster care and adoption: the voices of children, carers and adoptive parents (Children and Carers strand): 20 carers and adoptive parents were interviewed, and 10 children aged 3-9 years participated in ‘play and talk’ about their experiences.
Information sheet for children
This gives information about each of the strands.
