This page is for parents to learn more about how to get involved in CELCIS's research on voluntary care arrangements in Scotland. Thank you for your interest!

About this research

We are interested in finding out more about voluntary care arrangements. Voluntary care arrangements are created using Section 25 (s.25) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. Voluntary care arrangements are when parents agree with social workers that their child should live with somebody else who will take care of them. This could be a close family member, a family friend, or a foster carer.

We’re interested in how parents understand and experience voluntary care arrangements. This includes how social workers talk with parents about voluntary care arrangements, how parents are told about their rights, how parents and children are involved in the decision that is made, and how they are supported.

We hope that the project will help CELCIS and children’s services learn how to make things even better for families.

Please note, we have now completed our interviews and focus groups. Thank you to everyone who took part.

Need to speak to someone?

Please consider if a listening and helping service might be helpful for talking through how you are feeling and anything that you are find particularly hard in your life at the moment.

If you would like to speak to someone confidentially for support, you can contact ParentLine Scotland for free by phoning 08000 28 22 33, Monday - Friday from 6am - 6pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 9am - 12pm.

Breathing Space, a free, confidential, phone and webchat service is also available for anyone in Scotland over the age of 16 to listen, offer advice, and provide information to them. Visit www.breathingspace.scot anytime, or phone 0800 83 85 87 Monday-Thursday 6pm - 2am, and Friday-Monday 6pm - 6am.