Research & News - Information and Links

• Children's Social Care Needs: Research by University College London reveals that one in four children in England receive services from children's social care by the time they turn 18. This highlights the significant scale of need and the central role of children's social care in the public welfare system

• Data Linking in Children's Care: A report by Administrative Data Research UK (ADR UK) and the National Centre for Social Research emphasises the importance of linking data from different parts of the government to improve children's care. The findings show that care-experienced individuals face higher risks and challenges, such as a 62% higher risk of dying before the age of 75 and a higher likelihood of having a conviction or police caution.

Overhaul in Children's Social Care: The UK government has announced major reforms to the children's social care system, aiming to end years of neglect and improve outcomes for vulnerable children. The reforms include empowering social workers, cracking down on exploitative care providers, and focusing on early intervention to keep families together.

Crisis in Foster Care: Charity Barnardo's has issued a warning about a sharp decline in foster care applications, leading to more children entering care homes. The shortage of foster carers is attributed to factors such as the pandemic, rising living costs, and home-working trends.

Challenges in Higher Education for Care-Experienced Young People: A study by the University of Oxford reveals that care-experienced young people face significant hurdles in higher education. They are four times less likely to enter higher education by age 22 and more than twice as likely to drop out compared to their peers.