DfE publishes review of long-term placement types and outcomes
Review addresses impacts of maltreatment on children
The Department for Education has published a review examining the effects of abuse and neglect on children, and whether different placement types affect their outcomes.
The review, by Dr Julie Wilkinson and Dr Susannah Bowyer, brings together a summary of key research findings in one document intended to be accessible to judicial and local authority decision makers with regard to two key themes:
- The impacts of abuse and neglect on children
- The strengths and weaknesses of different types of long-term placements in relation to their impact on children.
The primary focus of the review, which runs to 112 pages, is on key UK research from 2000 to 2016. Reference is also made to key international evidence that has particular relevance to the review.
When considering the placement options for children who have suffered abuse and neglect, the report finds:
- Children and young people enter care for a variety of reasons. The 'right' placement for individual children will depend on a variety of factors. Decision makers need to undertake thorough and analytical assessments to help them weigh up the pros and cons of the different permanence options and to determine which placement will best meet children's needs through the whole of their childhood and beyond.
- Where children and young people are not able to remain safely with their parents, decisions around securing stable long-term placement should be made at the earliest opportunity as lengthy waits in temporary care and placement moves can have negative consequences for children.
- Placement stability is a key element of permanence. There are a number of interrelated factors that have an impact on stability, including: the age of the child when they enter care; the severity of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties; having a carer who is sensitive, tolerant and resilient; having a carer who can promote the child's sense of identity.
- Siblings are an important part of a child's identity. There are generally clear advantages to placing siblings together, but this is sometimes not achievable and sometimes not desirable. Decision makers need to consider the benefits and detriments of sibling placements for individual children, and, if children need to be separated, have a plan for contact wherever it is safe to do so.
- The benefits and detriments of contact with birth relatives will depend on a variety of factors related to both the child and the relatives. Of particular importance is the quality of contact and the benefits for the child or young person. Crucial to any decision regarding contact is the child's welfare and their expressed views and experiences of contact.
When comparing outcomes for children in different placements, the report finds:
- It is difficult to compare like-for-like outcomes for children in different placement types. However, there are a number of common themes across the research literatures, which provide a reasonably strong evidential base.
- Children in all placement types are equally likely to suffer from a high degree of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. These are generally more pronounced for children who are older (generally aged four or over) when they enter care. For many children, these difficulties persist even after they have been moved from an adverse environment to a nurturing home, indicating the pervasive impact of lengthier exposure to maltreatment.
- Children who have been maltreated generally have better outcomes with regard to stability and well-being if they are placed in alternative care, particularly if the parental issues relating to maltreatment have not been addressed.
- Purposeful social work planning, which allows children to return home gradually and with the provision of ongoing support, is key to successful reunification.
- Adoption, special guardianship, residence orders/child arrangements orders and long-term foster care all offer permanence options for children who are not able to be reunified with their parents. They also have lower disruption rates than reunification, especially where reunification is not well supported.
- In terms of stability, adoption has a lower rate of disruption compared to SGOs and residence orders. Adoption disruptions are most likely to occur in the adolescent years, after children have been living with adoptive parents for a number of years. In contrast, SGOs and child arrangements orders (formerly residence orders) tend to disrupt within two years of the order being made. Since SGOs were only introduced in 2005, it is too early to say whether a similar peak of disruption as for adoption will occur during adolescence.
- Placements are more likely to disrupt when children enter care and their permanent placement at an older age. So it is important that timely decisions are made where children are not able to remain safely with their parents. These decisions need to be underpinned by robust and analytical assessments of parents and their capacity to change with the provision of support.
• Although there is an association between being in care and educational outcomes, this relationship is mediated by a number of individual, family and environmental factors. The relationship between being in care and low educational outcomes is partly explained by children's pre-care experiences, although some of the difficulties persist once children enter care. Recent research suggests there are 66 positive educational outcomes for children in care in comparison with children in need in the community.
The report calls for further research in relation to:
- The impact of the reforms and recent case law on judicial decision making and the long-term outcomes for children of decisions made by the court.
- The use of SGOs since the introduction of the revised PLO and the longer-term outcomes for children.
- Outcomes for children who are placed in long-term foster care.
- Sibling placement decisions and the longer-term outcomes for children placed together or apart.
- Looked after children who have disabilities and the placement and long-term outcomes for these children.
- The nature of social, emotional, behavioural and mental health difficulties of children who have suffered maltreatment and therapeutic approaches that can help to mitigate them would be helpful.
- Pathways into and out of care for adolescents and what works in securing the best outcomes for young people who enter care during adolescence.
- The role that fathers/partners play, not only in relation to being a risk factor for maltreatment, but also in being a protective factor in reducing the risk of maltreatment and mitigating the impact of maltreatment that has already occurred would be very useful.
To read or download the report, click here.
30/3/17