In 2022, CELCIS was asked by the Scottish Government to carry out a research study with the aim of gathering evidence to inform decision-making about how best to deliver children's services in Scotland in light of the proposed introduction of the National Care Service for Scotland, and its commitment to Keep the Promise of the Independent Care Review (2020).

The purpose of the Children’s Services Reform Research study is to answer the question: “What is needed to ensure that children, young people and families get the help they need, when they need it?”. The study has four separate strands of work, which together aim to provide a comprehensive and holistic approach to answering this question.

A final report will be published at the end of the study which will draw together and synthesise all four strands of the findings to address the research question.

For this third strand of the study - Mapping integration and outcomes across Scotland: a statistical analysis – the research question is: is the level of structural integration of children’s health and social care services associated with changes in outcomes for children, young people, families, and the workforce?

To help us to answer this question, the researchers looked at the approaches taken towards structural integration following the development of Health and Social Care Partnerships over the last decade in Scotland and 25 indicators associated with the welfare and wellbeing of Scotland’s children, support for families, and the workforce who support them.

The findings of this work have been published in a full report and an accompanying summary. A technical report providing more detail on the statistical modelling approach taken has also been published and we have made the source data available.

Read the report

Read the summary of the report

Read the technical report

Download the data and code