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This chapter explores the child welfare and child protection services in England. The child protection system refers to the multi-agency and inter-professional arrangements following specific government guidelines on the assessment and service concerning child maltreatment. Suspected maltreatment reports are directed to the police or children’s social services. Data on rates of abuse cannot be quantified easily due to the lack of a formal system of reporting and substantiation of abuse allegations. However, England does have a robust administrative data collection to understand the demands on the child welfare system. Tension is growing between policy-makers, social workers, and advocacy groups with regards to enforcing a rights-based and participatory approach to child welfare.

This chapter documents a declining use of residential care in England in favor of foster family care when out-of-home care is needed. It also discusses recent policy reviews and reform efforts that incentivize innovative residential practice. Research on placement outcomes and child and youth characteristics is also provided. The chapter concludes with a standardized matrix that provides information on the current policy context, key trends and initiatives, characteristics of children and youth served, preparation of residential care personnel, promising programmatic innovations, and present strengths and challenges. Growth in private (for profit) residential care is noted, as is an increase in unregulated placement.

The 1989 Children Act is a widely admired piece of legislation. This chapter traces its genesis of the legislation and examines the value base of the legislation and its implications for social work practice. The political social and economic trends which have impacted on the implementation are analysed. Has the risk aversion which has led to increased numbers of ‘looked after’ children undermined the balance between family support and child protection reflected in the Act? The cuts in family support services have made it hard to realise the partnership with parents which was one of the key themes of the Act. There remains a hope that the vision and intentions of the legislation may yet be achieved

This chapter draws on writer’s experiences as: a student ona postgraduate child care officer course in 1962; a child and family and then a generalist ‘patch’ social worker; a social work lecturer and researcher; a board member of the General Social Care Council (GSCC); and in the voluntary sector. References to key texts are woven into a commentary on the changing views between the 1950sand the late 2010s about necessary knowledge for social workers in the early stages of their career. Detailed knowledge needed for more specialist and supervisory roles is beyond the scope of this chapter.

International Human Rights and child rights conventions as well as U.K. wide legislation and guidance require that children in care should be returned home to one or both parents wherever possible. Reunification with parents is the most common route out of care, but rates of re‐entry are often higher than for other exit routes. This study used 8 years of administrative data (on 2,208 care entrants), collected by one large English local authority, to examine how many children were returned home and to explore factors associated with stable reunification (not re‐entering care for at least 2 years). One‐third of children (36%) had been reunified, with adolescent entrants being the most likely age group to return home. Three quarters (75%) of reunified children had a stable reunification. In a fully adjusted regression model, age at entry, being on a care order prior to return home, staying longer in care, being of minority ethnicity, and having fewer placements in care were all significant in predicting chances of stable reunification. The results underline the importance of properly resourcing reunification services. The methods demonstrate the value to local authorities of analysing their own data longitudinally to understand the care pathways for children they look after.

Citizens' opinions on child protection public policy are a key dimension of the legitimacy of a political order. We have conducted a survey vignette on a representative sample of citizens (N = 4,003) in England, Finland, Norway, and California, USA. The findings show that citizens' opinions are clearly in favour of adoption (75%) rather than long-term foster care (25%). Context may partly explain the findings, as the responses of the majority of Anglo-American respondents are in line with practice in their countries but for the Nordic respondents, there is a substantial discrepancy between citizens' opinions and on-going child protection practices.

The England Department for Education regulations require that all children and youth in care for more than six months must have a ‘permanence plan’. Although, in England, placement in a children's home is generally used as a ‘last resort’ after usually more than one family placement (adoptive or foster) has not worked out, and is usually seen as a short term measure, it is recognised in the guidance that for a small proportion of young people a residential care placement will be the permanence option of choice. After reviewing the relevant literature on the uses of residential care internationally and in the UK, the paper summarises a case study of a small English voluntary sector agency providing longer term care in six small children's home. Summary information is provided on the philosophy and characteristics of the care provided, the over-arching aim of which is to achieve stability and a sense of belonging through the care experience and into adulthood and beyond. Descriptive data are provided on the young adults before and during their stay, and as young adults and outcome data (factual and using ‘sensitive’ outcome measures) are provided on a cohort of the 65 former residents now aged between 18 and 30.

The English language term ‘permanence’ is increasingly used in high income countries as a ‘short-hand’ translation for a complex set of aims around providing stability and family membership for children who need child welfare services and out-of-home care. From a scrutiny of legislative provisions, court judgments, government documents and a public opinion survey on child placement options, the paper draws out similarities and differences in understandings of the place of ‘permanence’ within the child welfare discourse in Norway and England. The main differences are that in England the components of permanence are explicitly set out in legislation, statutory guidance and advisory documents whilst in Norway the terms ‘stability’ and ‘continuity’ are used in a more limited number of policy documents in the context of a wide array of services available for children and families. The paper then draws on these sources, and on administrative data on children in care, to tease out possible explanations for the similarities and differences identified. We hypothesise that both long-standing policies and recent changes can be explained by differences in public and political understandings of child welfare and the balance between universal services and those targeted on parents and children identified as vulnerable and in need of specialist services. publishedVersion

Policies and thresholds vary for placing children into out-of-home care (OHC) at different ages. Evidence is lacking that quantifies the risk of entering OHC by age, and how this varies over time and between countries. We determined the age-specific cumulative incidence of ever entering OHC during childhood in Denmark and in eight local authorities in England. We used administrative data for any form of OHC (except respite care) provided by children's social services in Denmark and England from 1992 to 2008. Using life tables and national population estimates, we calculated the cumulative incidence of entry into OHC by year of age for cohorts born in 1992–1994 through to 2006–2008. The cumulative incidence of entry into OHC decreased over time in Denmark and increased in England at all ages. Cumulative incidence of OHC in the first year of life was similar in Denmark and England for infants born in 1992–1994 (Denmark 2.83/1,000, England 2.89/1,000), but infants born in 2007–2008 were nearly three times as likely to enter OHC before their first birthday in England (4.50/1,000) than in Denmark (1.61/1,000). Entry into OHC during adolescence was more common in Denmark than in England so that by 16 years old the cumulative incidence of ever entering OHC during childhood was twice as high in Denmark (33.83/1,000) as in England (15.62/1,000). Diverging trends over time in the use of OHC in Denmark and England are likely to reflect changing policies in the two countries.

Local authorities in England are required to routinely collect administrative data on children in care and cross-sectional analyses of national data are published by central government. This paper explores the usefulness of undertaking a longitudinal analysis of these data at local authority level to determine the care pathways for children entering care, differentiating by age at entry. The sample consisted of 2208 children who entered care in one English local authority over a six-year period, and who were followed up for at least 2 years. A logistic regression model was fitted to explore factors associated with children staying long term in care. Age at entry was a key determinant of where children ended up (return to a parent, special guardianship or residence order, adoption or staying long term in care). Only a minority of entrants (mainly those entering care in their middle years) remained in longer term care. For the vast majority of children, the ‘pre-care family context’ remains important as children will either return to parents or relatives or stay in touch with them. The findings are used to urge service planners to make full use of data on care entrants, especially age at entry, when deciding on the balance between the different placement options needed, and the social work service delivery models.

The use of residential placements for children needing out-of-home care remains controversial. This article considers the discourse of 'residential' and 'institutional' care before describing, mainly through administrative data sources, the wide variations in group-care usage in different jurisdictions. In some countries, its use is minimal, with foster care, kinship care and in some cases, adoption being the preferred options. This is not so in other countries where a high percentage of children in care are in residential placements. There is also diversity in the type of residential services, ranging from small group homes to large institutions. The challenges inherent in making process and outcome comparisons across national boundaries are explored. The authors concur with those who argue for more systematic ways of describing and analysing the aims and characteristics of residential settings. Only then can meaningful comparisons be made between outcomes from group-care regimes in different jurisdictions.

Findings are reported from a process study of an English multi-disciplinary team working with families with long standing and complex problems. The approaches and methods of the team are described and placed in the context of UK policy developments and of UK and USA research on professional practice with families facing multiple difficulties. Basic data are provided on all families referred in the first year and analysed with respect to the first 100 completed cases. A broadly ethnographic research approach is used for the observational study of the team interactions and decision-making on individual cases. For a one-third sub-sample of 33 cases, process and interim outcome data are analysed from information systematically extracted from case records. These are complemented by qualitative data from interviews with managers and caseworkers and by observation of ‘team around the family’ and professionals' meetings. The researchers conclude that the service succeeds in engaging a majority of the referred families who have been hard to reach or hard to change in the past and whose children are either ‘on the edge of care’ or likely to be significantly harmed without the provision of an intensive service. The researchers concluded that improvements were made in the life chances of children in 75% of the families. Aspects of the service identified as associated with more positive outcomes are: the allocation of two key workers (one for the child/ren and one for the parent/s); the centrality of relationship-based practice and flexibility of the approach rather than strict adherence to any particular practice model; the fact that the service is firmly embedded within the statutory children's services department, allowing for continuity of relationships with team around the family members when the intensive service ends; and flexibility about case duration and intensity.

Purpose – Out‐of‐home care has been a subject for policy debate since child welfare policies were first developed. Too often the debate is marked by ill‐informed sound‐bites linking “care” with negative descriptors such as “drift” or “languish”. The purpose of this paper is to urge a more nuanced understanding informed by the large volume of research from across jurisdictional boundaries.Design/methodology/approach – The historical, cultural and political contexts in which studies on children's out‐of‐home care have been conducted are reviewed, since these impact on the characteristics of the children, the aims of the care service in any particular jurisdiction, and the outcomes for those entering care. The paper also scopes the large volume of English language descriptive and process research (and the smaller number of outcome studies) on the different placement options.Findings – The outcomes of out‐of‐home care are different for different groups of children, and care needs to be taken not to over‐simpl...

A major challenge in child welfare is whether a program (or service) developed and successfully implemented in one jurisdiction, especially another country, will attain the same outcomes for children and families in another jurisdiction? This paper presents the “DCE Classification System” (Defining, Classifying, and Evaluating), a classification system that facilitates cross-jurisdiction comparisons of child and family services. The paper reviews the cross-national research literature in child and family services as well as literature on classification schemes and typologies. As an example of the issues that arise when importing a promising program, we briefly highlight the exporting and importing of family group conferencing. After tracing the history and development of the DCE Classification System, the paper describes the proposed classification scheme, and provides a brief example of how researchers and practitioners can use the classification system for cross-national comparisons of client outcomes and program costs. Finally, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this approach, as well as possible benefits for child and family practices.

Government reports and research studies from several countries, going back over several years, have highlighted the harm suffered by children caught up in their parents' conflict about where they should live and who they should see. This article adds to the still-small body of research presenting children's views about the sources of support available to them around the time of court hearings and subsequently. A questionnaire was sent, via the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) and through their resident parent, to the majority of children in England aged 10 or over about whom a court welfare report had been written during a six-month period. Responses were received from 141 children and demographic data are provided on these respondents. More of the respondents expressed broad satisfaction with their residence arrangements than was the case for contact arrangements. Whilst more than half of the respondents were broadly satisfied with the services they had received, others ev...

June Thoburn and Gillian Schofield demonstrate how the development of the foster care service over the last 30 years reveals BAAF's varied points of engagement with policy and practice, which have increasingly helped to shape the foster care agenda.

This article is an extended version of an ‘experts’ briefing' commissioned to inform senior child welfare managers in English local authorities and voluntary agencies about the available evidence to inform the provision of effective services in complex child protection cases. It starts by noting how differences in the approach to service provision in different jurisdictions affect both the nature of research conducted and its transferability across national boundaries. It then summarises the characteristics both of parents who are likely to maltreat their children and also of the children most likely to be maltreated. The factors that make some families ‘hard to engage’ or ‘hard to help/change’ are then discussed, as are the essential elements of effective professional practice in child protection. Particular attention is paid to effective approaches to helping families and young people who are hard to identify or engage.

This article examines the utility of racial disproportionality and disparity data to measure the performance and outcomes of child welfare systems. Given the differential patterns of entry, exit and service responses for black, indigenous and ethnic minority children in many child welfare systems around the world, the conceptualisation of both quality and outcomes should take account of their needs. Clarity is required about which dimensions of effectiveness are measured by racial disparity indicators, in order to design strategies to address its causes and consequences. The article discusses how data on racial disproportionality and disparity can be used, as part of a suite of performance indicators, to highlight issues regarding the quality, equity and accessibility of child welfare services.

Thirty-five children’s trust pathfinders, local cross-sector partnerships, were introduced across England in 2003 to promote greater integration in children’s services. Using administrative performance data, this paper tracks yearly trends in child service outputs and child well-being outcomes from 1997 to 2004 in these local areas, including the period before their introduction. Professional perceptions of change in child outcomes are also presented. Time series regression analysis shows there was a general improvement in England in these selected performance indicators prior to the introduction of children’s trusts pathfinders. Children’s trust pathfinder areas initially focusing on ‘all children’ in their local area, rather than selected groups of children, showed the most progress. There was no consistent quantitative evidence for better outcomes in more integrated areas, however, 25 of the 35 survey respondents provided locally specific examples of children’s trust pathfinder arrangements improving outcomes for children and young people.

This paper presents findings from a prospective longitudinal study which set out to track the progress of 105 children and young people newly identified as having suffered, or being likely to suffer, significant harm through maltreatment or neglect. Baseline data were collected on these children in four English social services departments. Descriptive data on the services and child outcome data were analysed on all the children between 12 and 18 months later, and on 77 of the young people 8–9 years after concerns were first identified. Forty per cent of the children stayed at home with a parent throughout, while the majority of children experienced either some or considerable disruption to their lives. Fifty-seven per cent experienced further maltreatment or neglect. Some children appear to have made good progress in spite of repeated moves, disruption and re-abuse. The paper examines the pattern of services to children and parents. Factors are explored which appeared to either help or hinder the children's capacity to deal with the stresses and adversities faced over the 8 years. Implications for policy and practice are explored which may be more likely to promote positive outcomes for these high-risk children.

Your Shout Too! reports on a National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children survey of the views of 141 children and young people involved in private law court proceedings following the separation of their parents. All of the children who responded had either been the subject of a Welfare Report prepared under the provisions of Section 7 of the Children Act, 1989, or had been separately represented in the proceedings under the provisions of Rule 9.5 Family Proceedings Rules, 1991. The research was carried out with the assistance of the Children and Family Courts Advisory and Support Service. This article looks at current arrangements for hearing the voice of the child and considers how society views the involvement of children and young people in parental disputes about their children's residence and contact arrangements. Drawing on the views and experiences of the children responding to the survey, it goes on to explore the implications for developing policy and practice in relation to the app...

This paper summarizes, from a cross-national perspective, some commonly used models of evidence-based practice and relates them to social work practice with children and families. We first identify concepts and dimensions central to an analysis of the outcomes of social work practice. We then present and discuss key components of social work practice that any evidence-based model must take into account. Finally, we provide some examples of strategies that may be useful to practitioners and policy makers across nations and cultures in order to build a solid knowledge-base for effective social work practice.

As governments increasingly search globally for strategies to improve child welfare outcomes, it is vital to consider how policies and programs developed in other countries are likely to suit local conditions. Routinely collected child welfare administrative data can provide contextual information for cross-national comparisons. This article examines out-of-home care in Australia compared to other developed countries, and explores possible explanations for differences in patterns and trends. In doing so, it also examines the similarities and differences between NSW, Victoria and Queensland. It is argued that a sound understanding of how out-of-home care is used, the profile of children in care and the influences on data can assist policy makers to match proposed solutions to clearly understood current problems. The imperative is to plan and implement policies and programs that locate out-of-home care within a range of child welfare services that meet the diverse needs of children and families within local contexts.

Findings from a research study commissioned by the Department of Health into children in need of protection are used as a basis for the exploration of interpretations of the Children Act 1989 definition of ‘significant harm’. Particular attention is paid to thresholds for intervention introduced by the England and Wales Children Act 1989 and its accompanying guidance and to decisions made at child protection conferences. The findings are linked to those from studies which preceded the Act and to more recent discussions about the relationship between services to children ‘in need’ and those to children ‘in need of protection’. A cohort of 105 cases was identified and an examination made of the different ways in which they were processed through the system and decisions made that the children were suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. Conclusions are drawn about the adequacy of the Children Act definitions and post-Children Act practice for protecting children and for the allocation of resources to those most in need of them. The authors note variations in the extent to which individual social workers and social work teams in the areas studied have incorporated the new concepts of the Children Act into their practice. This applies particularly to the extent to which they plan their work around previous abusive actions of parents or their assessment of likely future harm to the child.

Ten years after the implementation of the Children Act 1989 in England and Wales, a review of how its main provisions were working out in practice was undertaken by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). This article reports on a survey of the views of 735 children and young people who were looked after by UK local authorities and discusses some of the implications for policy and practice as the Adoption and Children Act 2002 and the Children Act 2004 are in the early stages of implementation. Information was sought on children's involvement in court processes and care planning, on whether being in care helped these children to feel safe and on contact arrangements with family and with others who were important to them. The authors conclude that there is much support in the responses of these young people for the principles on which the Children Act 1989 is based. The authors also draw out implications for policy and practice.

Discussions about provision for children in the care of the state have continually raised the question, can the corporate state parent? Roger Bullock, Mark E Courtney, Roy Parker, Ian Sinclair and June Thoburn consider the question in the light of recent studies of separated children. It is argued that while the state does not need to fulfil all parenting responsibilities when care is shared with families or children are adopted, for three groups of children parenting issues are especially salient. They are: children in kinship care, in long-term foster family care and young people who are seriously troubled and troublesome. Research that would produce relevant information and recommendations to improve the state's parenting is suggested.

This paper reviews the research on the referral of minority ethnic children to child and family social work teams because of child protection concerns. Specifically, it focuses on those studies that have researched the referral stage of the child ‘in need’ and child protection systems, and explored differences in patterns of referral between the main ethnic groups that make up the UK population.

El estudio se basa en una investigacion transnacional sobre la informacion administrativa acerca de ninos que reciben atencion publica en residencias u otros programas tales como familias guardadoras o familias de acogida, en un total de 15 provincias/estados en nueve paises. Se trata de un grupo altamente vulnerable a la exclusion social en el largo plazo tanto entre paises ricos como pobres. El estudio se centro en las sociedades "post-industriales" con economias que en terminos generales son similares, y que han desarrollado, si bien en diferente forma, sistemas de bienestar infantil. En esta ponencia presentamos sucintamente las conclusiones y las utilizamos para demostrar la importancia de que todos los estados reunan informacion administrativa confiable a fin de planificar mejor y ofrecer los servicios de bienestar infantil que mejor cumplan las necesidades de sus diferentes poblaciones y contextos. El articulo explora las formas en que la informacion administrativa recolectada rutinariamente puede ser usada por los academicos del trabajo social en la docencia, en la investigacion y en debates sobre las politicas a fin de ofrecer una critica constructiva de las politicas dirigidas a los ninos vulnerables, a sus padres y a sus cuidadores.

Elements of attachment theory have been embraced by practitioners endeavouring to assist foster and adopted children and their parents. Attachment theory articulates the potential risks of experiencing multiple caregivers; emphasizes the importance of close social rela- tionships to development; and recognizes that substitute parents may not always have close relationships with children who have experi- enced adversities before joining them. Attachment theory offers con- cerned parents what they believe to be a scientific explanation about their lack of the close, satisfying parent-child relationship they desire. Yet the scientific base of attachment theory is limited both in terms of its ability to predict future behaviours, and especially with regard to its use as the underpinning theory for therapeutic intervention with children experiencing conduct problems. There is a critical need to review the role of attachment theory in child and family services and to consider its place among other explanations for children's disturb- ing behaviour. An important step towards pursuing alternative approaches is for researchers and practitioners to understand the reasons the attachment paradigm appeals to so many adoptive and foster parents, given the apparent widespread prevalence of attach- ment-based interventions. Such understanding might assist in the development of adoption-sensitive uses of appropriate evidence- based treatment approaches.

the development of social work in its wider social policy and international contexts. Darren Howell was the Senior Research Associate for the study reported in this paper. Dr June Thoburn is Professor of Social Work and former Director of the Centre. Her research interests are in family placement and the family support and child protection provisions of the 1989 Children Act. Dr Gillian Schofield is a Senior Lecturer in Psychosocial Sciences and Co-Director of the Centre. Her research interests are in attachment, resilience and family placement.

This paper considers some of the available published research on family support services for minority ethnic families. In addressing this aspect of social work with minority ethnic families, we seek to make a contribution to the knowledge base of practitioners. The paper begins with an overview of what is known about family support services for particular minority ethnic groups, before exploring three specific areas: family centres, a home visiting service, and family group conferences. The paper finally examines what research says about the qualities sought in social workers by minority ethnic parents.

Study objective To measure the health, educational and social impacts of breakfast club provision in schools serving deprived areas across England. Design A cluster randomized controlled trial and an observational analysis. Setting England, the UK. Intervention: funding to establish a school-based breakfast club vs. control (no funding). Main results Intention to treat analysis showed improved concentration (Trail Making Test Part A) amongst the intervention group at 3 months. Fewer pupils within the intervention group reported having skipped classes within the last month and fewer pupils within the intervention group reported having skipped 1 or more days of school within the last month at 1 year. Observational analysis at 1 year showed a higher proportion of primary-aged breakfast club attendees reported eating fruit for breakfast in comparison to non-attendees. A higher proportion of breakfast club attendees had borderline or abnormal conduct and total difficulties scores (primary-aged pupils) and prosocial score (secondary-aged pupils). Conclusions Analyses revealed a mixed picture of benefit and apparent disbenefit. This study illustrated the challenges of evaluating a complex intervention in which the evaluators had less control than is usual in randomized trials over recruitment, eligibility checking and implementation. If the impact of new policy initiatives is to be assessed using the most robust forms of evaluation, social policy needs to be organized so that evaluations can be constructed as experiments. This is likely to prove most difficult where the perceived value of implementing an intervention rapidly is high.