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This exploratory study is the first of its kind to describe the care profiles of young care experienced mothers, whose own children are placed in care in Wales, using administrative data. Given the scale of investment in family justice and children’s social care, it is vital that we understand whether this investment reduces the risk of future family breakdown for care experienced girls and women. For equally important moral reasons – we need to understand far more about the removal of children from one generation to the next. The study makes first use of the Wales Children Looked After (CLA) Census to examine mothers who were aged 12 to 17 years in 2014 and 18 to 23 years at follow-up (31 March 2020). The study also describes the care profiles and legal statuses of children born to care experienced mothers. Comparisons are drawn throughout to explore whether there are differences between: a) mothers with care experience whose children are/are not placed in care b) children in care, whose own mothers have/do not have a care history.

This briefing summarizes the first report of its kind to provide a descriptive study of a cohort of care-experienced mothers and their children in care in Wales. The report delivers longitudinal insights into mothers’ and children’s age and care profiles.

There is growing recognition, in the UK and internationally, of the huge costs of recurrent appearances of parents in local authority care proceedings. This paper contributes to pressing policy and practice concerns to reduce recurrence. It presents qualitative longitudinal data from the first study of fathers' experiences of recurrent care proceedings in England. Demonstrating the emotional impact of repeat proceedings and successive loss of children on fathers, in terms of grief, loss and shame, we highlight the trauma and abuse in their developmental histories. We consider complex connections between anger and shame for these fathers, including within the arena of family justice. With the use of literature on complex trauma, shame and parental disengagement, we explore ideas for re-framing fathers', and professionals', resistance to engagement and for better understanding fathers' intense emotions. We suggest that the link between shame and complex trauma and the value of shame reducing, dignity promoting practice in response provide a valuable way forward for working with fathers. As is recognized to be the case for mothers, without holistic, empathic interventions to address the vulnerabilities of such fathers, the risks for children, mothers and fathers are unlikely to reduce.

This paper examined relationships between area-level deprivation, local authorities’ social care expenditure and the rates of children entering care proceedings in England using a novel data linkage of de-identified records provided by the Children and Family Court Advisory Service (Cafcass). Using structural equation modelling, the authors found strong positive relationships between socio-economic area deprivation and high rates of children undergoing care proceedings in England between 2015 and 2019. Preventative social care expenditure is associated with lower child rates when adjusting for deprivation. Our findings suggest that deprived and underfunded local authorities respond to an increased need by prioritizing care arrangements.

Introduction When a child has suffered, or is at risk of suffering, significant harm from parents or caregivers, the local authority may issue Section 31 (s.31) Care and Supervision proceedings under the Children Act (1989). Objectives We compared the healthcare use of infants less than one year old subject to s.31 proceedings in Wales (n = 1,332),to that of a comparison group of infants not subject to s.31 proceedings (n = 204,417), between January 2011 and February 2020. Methods Population-based e-cohort study utilising data held in the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank. Infants in s.31 proceedings were identified using the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service dataset. This was linked to demographic and healthcare datasets, to identify General Practice (GP) visits, emergency department (ED) attendances, and hospital admissions (emergency and elective); before the study end date or the child's first birthday for the comparison group, orbefore the s.31 application date.Regression analysis calculated event rate ratios [RR] and incidence rate ratios [IRR] for healthcare events, adjusting for widerdeterminants of health (e.g. perinatal factors, maternal mental health, deprivation), and investigated reasons for healthcare use. Results Infants in s.31 proceedings had ahigher number and incidence of healthcare events compared with the comparison group, across all healthcare settings. Differences were greatest for emergency hospital admissions (IRR = 4.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.53 - 4.59; RR = 4.60, CI = 3.90 - 5.41). "Injury and poisoning" was the main reason for emergency admissions amongst infants in s.31 proceedings. For ED presentations, emergency hospital admissions, and GP visits, there were proportionally more events for these infants across all top ten reasons for healthcare. Conclusions Findings highlight greater healthcare utilisation for infants involved in s.31 proceedings in Wales, helping to build a better und

Whatever the circumstances, the separation of infants from their mothers at birth is a traumatic experience for all concerned. The paper reports on a study designed to improve practice in this highly sensitive area. An analysis of data collected through semi‐structured interviews with 38 mothers who had experienced removal at birth identified four common themes: isolation and unacknowledged support needs; shame, stigma and the failure of others to acknowledge their maternal identity; acute trauma, immediate downturn and disenfranchised grief following infant removal; and strategies to mitigate their pain and grief. These last themes included the use of artefacts both as transitional objects to help mothers come to terms with the permanent loss of a baby, and as a means of keeping maternal identity alive and connecting with an infant who might eventually return home. In response to these findings, and in collaboration with a group of women with lived experience, HOPE boxes were designed to ameliorate the trauma and psychological burden borne by women in this situation. The contents of the boxes have been chosen to reflect the changing experiences of the women's journeys but also the range of possible potential outcomes. The intervention has considerable potential to minimise the trauma of this painful experience.

Limited research has directly sought the input of parents involved in the child protection system during pregnancy and with their infants. As the focus of these policies and practices, parents have a unique and important insight not available to others, so it is vital to obtain their input. As part of a larger Australian study, qualitative interviews were undertaken with 13 parents asking about their views and experiences. Parents predominantly became involved with child protection services during pregnancy through a prenatal report. Parents who previously had their newborn removed from their care described it as sudden and unexpected, leaving them distressed and unsupported post‐removal, with a growing list of requirements for them to see their baby or for restoration to be considered. Domestic violence was a particular issue of concern for some mothers who expressed distress that their partners, perpetrators of violence, were allowed access to their infant with fewer requirements than for them. Improvements recommended by the parents included greater communication and preparation for the removal, better recognition of improvements in their situations and increased supports to be provided to parents both pre‐ and post‐removal. Parental experiences provide an important guide to improving child protection practice with these families.

There is growing recognition, in the UK and internationally, of the huge costs of recurrent appearances of parents in local authority care proceedings. This paper contributes to pressing policy and practice concerns to reduce recurrence. It presents qualitative longitudinal data from the first study of fathers’ experiences of recurrent care proceedings in England. Demonstrating the emotional impact of repeat proceedings and successive loss of children on fathers, in terms of grief, loss and shame, we highlight the trauma and abuse in their developmental histories. We consider complex connections between anger and shame for these fathers, including within the ‘emotional regime’ (Quick & Scott 2019) of family justice. Using literature on complex trauma, shame, and parental disengagement, we explore ideas for re-framing fathers’, and professionals’, resistance to engagement, and for better understanding fathers’ intense emotions. We suggest that the link between shame and complex trauma, and the value of shame reducing, dignity promoting practice in response, provide a valuable way forward for working with fathers. As is recognised to be the case for mothers, without holistic, empathic interventions to address the vulnerabilities of such fathers, the risks for children, mothers, and fathers are unlikely to reduce.

This paper examined relationships between area-level deprivation, local authorities’ social care expenditure and the rates of children entering care proceedings in England using a novel data linkage of de-identified records provided by the Children and Family Court Advisory Service (Cafcass). Using structural equation modelling, the authors found strong positive relationships between socio-economic area deprivation and high rates of children undergoing care proceedings in England between 2015 and 2019. Preventative social care expenditure is associated with lower child rates when adjusting for deprivation. Our findings suggest that deprived and underfunded local authorities respond to an increased need by prioritizing care arrangements.

The study objectives were to (1) examine the association between children’s ethnicity and final legal orders at the end of family care proceedings (section 31 of the 1989 Children Act), and (2) test whether residential context, such as co-ethnic density and area-level deprivation, moderates this association. Two sources of data were used for this study. The first consisted of records routinely generated by Cafcass (England) and stored in the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) databank, and the second was the 2021 England Census. The focus was on children whose initial care proceedings took place between 2015/2016 and 2020/2021 and concluded with a recorded final legal order outcome (N = 98,161). Three-level logistic regression models were employed to estimate the relationship between children's ethnicity and adoption, along with the potential moderating effects of co-ethnic density and area-level deprivation. Children's ethnicity is significantly associated with placement for adoption, with white children being more likely to be subject to placement orders compared to children from all other ethnic groups combined (Asian, black, mixed or multiple, and other ethnic groups). Higher local authority co-ethnic density considerably reduces the likelihood of adoption for children of other ethnicities besides white, but not for white children. Moreover, white children living in the most deprived LSOAs are more likely to be placed for adoption than those residing in the least deprived LSOAs. However, the likelihood of placement for adoption remains consistent across all LSOA deprivation quintiles for children from ethnicities other than white. Local authority-level deprivation does not appear to moderate the relationship between children's ethnicity and adoption. This study sheds light on the intricate relationship between ethnicity, residential context, and adoption. While previous research has indicated that white children are more likely to be adopted, the findi

A body of literature details the strength, depth and endurance of charitable activity in the UK. However, many small and medium sized charities are increasingly required to compete against each other for resources and fight for their survival, particularly those that have relied on national and local government funding. Literature relating to charities has inevitably focused on the vulnerable position charities are in. The present study takes a more positive approach, which draws out knowledge about sustainability and how charities survive despite the challenging environment in which they exist. The research addresses the following questions: How do charities sustain their operations in the context of the profound social and economic changes, which have occurred in the UK over the last three decades? Are there specific elements of organisational practice which contribute to sustainability, and if so, can this be used to help other charities which are at risk of closing. Three charities that have successfully offered services at a local level for over three decades comprised the research site. Each had a different mission, organisational structure and user population. Applying ethnographic and narrative methods over a period of two years, interview and observational data captured the experiences and practices of a range of stakeholders, documentary evidence, use of space and materials (such as buildings and furniture). The analysis advances third sector research by drawing on three theoretical lenses. First, Organisational Identity Theory provides a framework to analyse differences between the charities under study, with a focus on history, social goals and aims. Second, Resource Mobilisation Theory exposes how resources, such as volunteers, buildings and materials are co-produced and utilised to support sustainability. Third, Social Practice Theory provides an explanatory lens through which to analyse micropractices and their linkages. This reframes stated social go

The thesis is formed of an ethnographic study of public law practice in a family court in England, with reference to reforms of family justice (commonly referred to as ‘modernisation’). It draws on Complexity Theory to analyse policy and practice. Direct observation of public law work, supplemented by professional interviews, facilitates close engagement with practice and thereby adds to the meagre ethnographic literature on family justice. The thesis examines the influence of rational thinking upon modernisation (characterised by a statutory timeframe for care proceedings and curbs on the court’s power to appoint expert witnesses), the short-term benefits and longer-term problems that have flowed from rational policymaking, and the ways professionals in the family court try to deliver fair justice and support children’s welfare despite modernisation, which many now consider problematic. The relationship between policymaking and practice is explored, including the ways that professionals interpret the law and thus make policy upstream. The complexities of public law work are uncovered: the commonly intractable social and health problems of families subject to care applications; a family justice system that is formally adversarial in nature but also incorporates elements of consensual justice; challenges to managing cases that do not neatly fit into the prescriptions of modernisation; and, finally, the impact of Covid-19. The thesis advocates a more responsive and pragmatic policymaking to acknowledge the role played by professionals in making policy and to enable family justice to recover from the pandemic. It also argues that expectations that the family court can resolve many families’ complex problems are unrealistic and makes the case for more concerted efforts to support families before and after proceedings.