CELCIS Blog

Our blog is a hub for perspectives and analysis of issues that matter to the lives of children, young people and their families. You will hear from our staff and guest bloggers on many topical issues where they will be reflecting and sharing their policy, practice and research insights..

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Two grandparents smiling at their grandchild

Understanding the experiences of children growing up in kinship care in Scotland

In this blog post to mark Kinship Care Week 2024, Dr Joanna Soraghan, Data Analyst at CELCIS, the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection,…

11 March 2024
Picture of family in living room

What does new research tell us it will take to keep The Promise?

Dr Heather Ottaway, CELCIS’s Head of Evidence and Innovation, and Principal Investigator of the Children’s Services Reform Research study considers what this…

05 February 2024
A generic image of a counsellor talking to a young person.

"Nobody spoke those words to me”: Parental experiences of voluntary care arrangements in Scotland

In this first of a series of blog posts to highlight findings from research on voluntary care arrangements in Scotland, Dr Robert Porter, Research Lead at…

30 November 2023
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How lived experience of care is helping drive Scotland’s progress towards keeping The Promise

David Anderson is the Co-Chair of the Oversight Board, an independent group set up to report on the progress and pace in Scotland as it journeys towards keeping…

27 October 2023
Blog - A face on a wall

A Face on a Wall: How embracing ‘Artivism’ can help young people find their voice

In this blog post for Care Experienced Week, Michael Archibald, a student, artist and activist, discusses being involved in – and being the face of – one of…

26 October 2023
Blog - Exploring leadership opportunities for the care experienced

Exploring leadership opportunities for the care experienced community

For this Care Experienced Week we took some time with Barry Black, member of the National Leadership Network (NLN) steering group, and Gary Brown, NLN…

25 October 2023
An illustration of two people sharing an umbrella

“Despite the cold weather, the Scottish people have given me one of the warmest welcomes in my life”: how supportive relationships help young refugees rebuild their lives in new places

During this Refugee Week and Refugee Festival Scotland 2023, Mohamad, a young person who arrived in Scotland from Syria in 2016 as a child reflects on why…

20 June 2023
A selection of words that care experienced young people find stigmatising.

Language matters

Amy Miskimmin-Logan, Participation Development Worker at Our Hearings Our Voice (OHOV) shares the thinking behind the ‘Language Leaders’ project which aims to…

08 June 2023
A young person involved in the Children's Hearings system

How Our Hearings Our Voice members worked around COVID-19 restrictions to help children and young people

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, this could have derailed plans children and young people from Our Hearings, Our Voice (OHOV) had been working on to provide…

22 May 2023
A toddler playing with a adult reading in the background

Data poses questions as well as answers, so what questions arise from Scotland's Child Protection 2021-2022 Statistics?

Dr Alex McTier, Evidence and Evaluation Specialist at CELCIS, takes a closer look at Scotland’s Child Protection 2021-2022 Statistics to uncover what the…

05 May 2023