.
Administrative data are increasingly used in impact evaluations of complex interventions in children's social care (CSC), offering advantages such as longitudinal, population-level coverage, and reduced burden on families and practitioners. However, administrative data alone are insufficient to support meaningful and responsible evaluation. Drawing on insights from two webinars hosted by the Children's Social Care Data User Group, which focused on presentations about uses of administrative data for evaluations, we identify three core challenges that administrative data cannot resolve in isolation: understanding the intervention, creating a valid comparison group, and measuring relevant outcomes. We explore how the absence of detailed programme theory, limited information on intervention implementation, and lack of nuanced outcome measures constrain the interpretability of evaluation findings. We highlight the risks of confounding in quasi-experiments when key contextual variables are missing from administrative datasets. While we acknowledge the value of administrative data, we caution against over-reliance on datasets designed for operational rather than evaluative purposes. We offer recommendations for more robust evaluation practice, including commitments to building programme theory, prospective data collection, capturing lived experiences, and transparent reporting of study limitations. These recommendations align with emerging policy frameworks and evaluation strategies but require adequate time, funding, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
In Scotland, local authorities have the duty to provide 'continuing care' to young people who are cared for in foster, kinship or residential settings (known as 'out-of-home care' in many regions) on their 16th birthday. This provision allows young people up to the age of 21 to remain in the same setting, with the same carers, and receive support as they transition from being 'looked after', through interdependence, to independence. International studies have consistently demonstrated that care leavers experience poor outcomes, and this has made transitions a focus of policy within many countries. This paper presents findings of a study on the implementation of continuing care in Scotland, which gathered perspectives from practitioners in a range of roles to support young people during their transition from care. The findings highlight the inconsistency in the implementation of continuing care within Scotland, as well as the barriers experienced in providing this support to young people and the unintended outcomes that have arisen in the provision of continuing care. Implementation science is used to help understand the supportive context that leaving care policies require, and how local and national government can act to ensure more consistent care provision for young people leaving care in Scotland and internationally.
ObjectivesThe number of children and young people living in kinship care (living separately from their parents with a family friend/relative) in Scotland has increased consistently since 2010. This study aims to explore outcomes for children and young people in kinship care in terms of their health, education, and care journeys. MethodsThis population-wide data linkage study will utilise data on all children and young people who have been placed in formal kinship care from 2008 onwards. The datasets linked for this study are: Looked After Children Child Protection Health Visiting Educational attainment, attendances, absences and exclusion Children’s Hearings data Through descriptive analysis the study will provide insight into the experiences and outcomes of children and young people in kinship care. Where appropriate, comparisons will be drawn with the wider care population and the general population of children and young people in Scotland. ResultsData will be presented which highlight: Levels of kinship care usage in Scotland, and how this varies regionally and over time. The routes into kinship care in terms of child protection concerns and legal reasons data. How children fare while in kinship care – specifically in terms of their childhood development, placement stability and educational attainment/engagement. The pathways out of formal kinship care, and whether these differ over time. Full results will be available for publication at the 2023 ADR UK conference. Conclusion This is the first population-wide study on outcomes for children and young people living in kinship care within Scotland. It is hoped that insight arising from this work will aid local authorities, government and others in meeting the needs of the steadily increasing number of children living in formal kinship care.
ObjectivesThe Covid-19 pandemic caused huge upheaval across the world, and the Scottish children’s social care sector was not exempt from this. This study explored the extent to which the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions impacted on the rate at which children and young people were entering and leaving care in Scotland. MethodsAnalysis was conducted on the Scottish Government’s ‘Longitudinal Looked After Children’ dataset which contains information on the care journeys of all children who were ‘looked after’ in Scotland between April 2008 and July 2021. Through a descriptive analysis, the study determined how the pandemic restrictions impacted the rates of children entering care, the rates of children leaving care, and the stability and duration of care placements at this time. ResultsDuring the initial year of the pandemic, there was a marked reduction in the number of children both entering (38%) and leaving (22%) care when compared to the year prior. The reduction in entries to care were less notable for infants under the age of 1 than it was for older age groups. Fewer children entered care under compulsory measures, with an increased proportion entering through ‘voluntary’ Section 25 measures. The impact on entries to care and exits from care varied substantially across local authorities in Scotland. The stability and duration of children’s placements were also impacted, with children moving placements less and staying in care for longer periods of time. ConclusionThe pandemic restrictions had a substantial impact on the interactions of children and young people with the ‘care system’. At a time where there is great focus on improving the experience of young people in care within Scotland, it is important that lessons are learned and implemented for future disruptive events.
This paper has been produced as part of a series of discussions undertaken by the Virtual School Head Teacher (VSHT) and Care Experienced Team (CET) network, alongside Scottish Government and Education Scotland representatives, hosted and convened by CELCIS. The information contained in this document is drawn from a focused workshop on roles and responsibilities and facilitated session attended by Virtual School Head Teachers, Care Experienced Team members and representatives from Scottish Government and Education Scotland and CELCIS on 21 January 2020.
