Phase one reports of Permanently Progressing? Building secure futures for children in Scotland published

Reports from phase one of Permanently Progressing? Building secure futures for children in Scotland, have been published.

This is the first study in Scotland to investigate decision making, permanence, progress, outcomes and belonging, giving an analysis of the experiences of 1,836 children who became ‘looked after’ at home, or were placed away from their birth parents when they were aged five and under in 2012-2013. The study used data from the Children Looked After Statistics (CLAS) and is the first to compare pathways and outcomes for such a large cohort of children. The plan is to track children's progress into adolescence and beyond.

The study was carried out by team comprised of representatives from the Universities of Stirling, York, and Lancaster in collaboration with Adoption and Fostering Alliance (AFA) Scotland.

There are five strands to the study and each has a report and executive summary:

• Pathways to Permanence for children who become looked after in Scotland (Pathways strand
• Linking two administrative data sets about looked after children: Testing feasibility and enhancing understanding (Linkage strand)
• Children looked after away from home aged five and under in Scotland: experiences, pathways and outcomes (Outcomes strand)
• Decision making for children (Decision making strand)
• Perspectives on kinship care, foster care and adoption: the voices of children, carers and adoptive parents (Children and Carers strand)

An information sheet for children has also been produced.

You can access all of the reports on the University of Stirling's website.