Vision statement one: Where children are in their families and feel loved, they must stay – and families must be given support together to nurture that love and overcome the difficulties which get in the way.
Organisational Progress
What is happening
This section brings together what the materials reviewed describe about how support is being shaped and delivered to help children and young people stay connected to their families. Click on the take me to navigation pane to jump to different sections here, including sources.
The evidence includes accounts of work underway to offer help earlier, reduce practical barriers to access and maintain family relationships during periods of difficulty or change. Across the sources, there is a strong emphasis on support that responds to everyday pressures, works alongside universal services and continues through transitions rather than stopping abruptly. The materials also reflect variation in how this support is experienced in practice, highlighting the importance of coordination, clear communication and continuity in reducing uncertainty and supporting children and young people’s sense of stability.
To see what changes Scotland is making and still has to make for the promise to be kept, click on the decision making, universal family support, intensive family support and poverty route maps in Plan 24-30. See more about the work of change across Scotland here.
The materials reviewed repeatedly describe a focus on early and whole family support as a way of helping children and young people remain safely within their families. Across inspection findings, workforce research and learning accounts, family difficulties are most often described as developing through accumulating pressures, including poverty, insecure or unsuitable housing, caring responsibilities, health needs and challenges linked to transport, geography and access to services.
Several sources describe how involvement has often begun once difficulties have escalated, with families experiencing support that is reactive and centred on managing immediate risk. In response, the materials point to efforts to place greater emphasis on offering help earlier, particularly practical support that addresses everyday pressures shaping family life, such as food insecurity, travel costs, managing routines and financial strain.
Workforce research, inspection findings and learning accounts also describe the limits of relying on formal assessment processes alone to understand family circumstances, particularly where needs are complex or change over time. These sources highlight the value of workers having sufficient time and continuity to understand family context, relationships and pressures, while also noting that this depth of understanding can be difficult to achieve where involvement is short-term or fragmented.
The materials further highlight a focus on ensuring that additional support sits alongside universal services, such as education, health and community provision, rather than replacing them. Several sources describe concerns that when families lose access to these ordinary supports during periods of difficulty, children and young people can experience further disruption to daily life and relationships.
The evidence also includes accounts where support continues during periods when children and young people are living away from home. In these situations, the focus is described as helping parents manage uncertainty, understand decisions as they are made and maintain relationships with their children. Learning accounts and reviews suggest that where this involvement is sustained, families are better able to prepare for possible return home, while risks are identified when support ends abruptly or becomes task-focused.
The materials reviewed describe ongoing work to address barriers that make support difficult to access or sustain. These barriers include complex referral routes, long waits, distance, transport difficulties, digital exclusion and the limited availability of some forms of help. Some accounts highlight particular challenges for families living in rural or remote areas, where support may be spread across wide geographic areas.
There are accounts of support being offered in more flexible and accessible ways, including through community-based settings and warm introductions between workers and services. The materials also describe attempts to coordinate involvement, so families do not need to repeat their story multiple times and so access does not depend solely on the availability of a particular worker, while also recognising that these approaches are uneven and shaped by local capacity.
Practical help with travel is described in several sources as a way of enabling children and young people to attend family time, appointments or meetings, and to maintain relationships with brothers and sisters and wider family. Other accounts describe efforts to plan support around school, work and daily routines, rather than limiting access to standard office hours.
Across the evidence, there are accounts of work focused on helping children and young people maintain relationships with brothers and sisters, parents and extended family during periods of difficulty. This includes examples of support when children and young people are living at home, as well as during periods when they are living elsewhere. The materials describe efforts to plan and sustain family time in ways that reflect children’s routines and relationships.
Some accounts describe practical help with travel, scheduling and safety planning as part of supporting family connection. Others describe emotional support aimed at helping families manage anxiety, uncertainty or stress linked to staying connected during difficult periods. In several sources, children and young people are described as being supported to understand what is happening during times of formal decision-making or changes in living arrangements, with explanations shaped around their age and understanding.
The materials also include accounts of parents and carers being offered emotional support to help them remain connected to children and young people. This includes support to prepare for meetings, understand decisions and manage their own stress so relationships can be sustained even when circumstances are challenging.
The materials reviewed include accounts of work underway to continue support when circumstances change, such as during crises, formal decision-making processes, reunification or changes in workers. In some cases, this involves maintaining involvement across moments of change, so families do not lose contact with people who understand their situation and history.
There are examples of children, young people and parents being supported to prepare for transitions, including being given information about what is likely to happen, what may change and how support might continue. The materials suggest that this preparation can help reduce uncertainty and anxiety during periods of change.
The evidence also describes challenges where changes and moves happen quickly or without sufficient planning, sometimes leading to confusion or gaps in support. In response, some sources describe efforts to improve coordination across teams so involvement does not fall away at key moments and important relationships are not lost unnecessarily.
What is being learned about change
This section draws together learning from the materials reviewed about how change is being understood and shaped in practice. It reflects what is emerging across accounts of work underway, rather than evaluating effectiveness or setting direction. The focus is on identifying patterns in how approaches are being adapted, what appears to make a difference to experience, and where learning continues to develop.
Across the materials, there is consistent learning that early, practical support can help families manage pressures before they escalate into crisis. The evidence suggests that when help responds to everyday challenges, families are better able to maintain routines, reduce stress at home and support children and young people’s sense of stability.
The sources also point to learning about the importance of continuity. Where support to parents continues during periods of separation, relationships are described as more stable and plans for the future clearer. Conversely, inspection and learning reports highlight risks when support ends suddenly or becomes fragmented, increasing uncertainty for both parents and children.
Key elements of success
- Support that responds early to pressure rather than waiting for crisis.
- Help that addresses practical day-to-day pressures alongside emotional support.
- Relationships that are built over time and adapt as family circumstances change.
- Approaches that work with families as a whole rather than around individual issues.
- Clarity for families about what support is available and what may happen next.
Examples
- Offering help with food, clothing or transport at times when money is tight, alongside regular check-ins that help reduce stress at home and stabilise daily routines.
- Continuing to work with parents while their child is living elsewhere, supporting them to understand decisions, stay connected and prepare for possible return home rather than starting again with new people.
- Shaping support around a family’s existing routines and relationships, instead of asking them to fit into fixed appointment times or processes.
What to stop and what to change
- Over-reliance on crisis responses where earlier, preventative support could reduce escalation.
- Approaches that focus on individual deficits without recognising wider family circumstances and pressures.
- Short-term or fragmented involvement that ends without explanation or clear next steps.
- Arrangements that leave children and young people feeling responsible for managing adult stress.
Families experience support as easier to use when there are fewer points of change and clearer routes to help. Practical barriers such as distance, transport, cost and digital exclusion have a direct effect on children and young people’s ability to stay connected to family. The materials suggest that the way support is offered can matter as much as the support itself, with flexibility and accessibility shaping how well it fits with daily realities.
Key elements of success
- Access routes that are simple, clear and easy to navigate.
- Flexibility in how and where support is offered.
- Practical recognition of distance, transport and digital access.
- Coordination that reduces repetition and confusion for families.
Examples
- Covering travel costs or arranging transport so children and young people can attend family time, appointments or meetings that would otherwise be difficult to reach.
- Offering support in community spaces that families already use, reducing the need for long journeys or complex referral routes.
- Helping coordinate contact with different services so families do not need to repeat their story to multiple people.
What to stop and what to change
- Processes that assume families can absorb distance, cost or digital barriers without additional support.
- Inflexible models that limit access to support outside standard office hours, even where needs are ongoing.
- Family time being cancelled due to workforce or scheduling constraints without efforts to find alternatives.
Children and young people’s wellbeing is closely linked to their relationships. Connection is strengthened when adults communicate clearly, provide reassurance and make consistent plans for family time. Supporting relationships often involves both practical and emotional help, and children and young people feel more settled when they understand plans and know what to expect. The materials suggest that everyday challenges, including transport, work patterns, experiences of stigma and access to universal supports, can influence how easily children and young people are able to stay connected to the people who matter to them.
Key elements of success
- Consistent planning that prioritises children and young people’s relationships.
- Clear communication with children, young people and families.
- Practical support that makes connection possible, not only planned.
- Emotional support that helps families manage stress and uncertainty.
Examples
- Planning family time around school, work and travel so brothers and sisters can spend time together regularly rather than sporadically.
- Taking time to explain changes in arrangements to children and young people in ways they can understand, helping reduce anxiety about what this means for their relationships.
- Supporting parents before and after meetings so they feel better able to stay emotionally present with their children during difficult periods.
What to stop and what to change
- Family time shaped primarily around service availability rather than relationships.
- Unclear or inconsistent communication that leaves children and young people uncertain.
- Sibling separation happening without exhausting alternatives that would allow brothers and sisters to remain together
- Where sibling separation does occur, it being handled without clear explanation, careful planning or ongoing support to protect relationships.
Continuity makes a significant difference to children and young people’s experience of stability. Sudden changes in support can increase stress and create confusion about plans. When involvement is maintained across transitions, children and young people are better able to cope, understand decisions and stay connected to family.
Key elements of success
- Continuity of relationships wherever possible.
Preparation for change rather than sudden endings. - Clear explanations about what is changing and why.
- Coordination across teams to avoid gaps in support.
Examples
- Maintaining involvement across periods of change so children and young people do not have to rebuild relationships or repeat their story.
- Making time to talk with families in advance about changes to support, giving them space to ask questions and understand what is likely to happen next.
- Coordinating work across teams during transitions such as reunification or changes in involvement so support does not stop abruptly.
What to stop and what to change
- Endings to support that happen without preparation, explanation or follow-up.
- Changes managed in isolation, without coordination that helps families understand what is happening and why.
- Changes that increase uncertainty for children and young people because information or reassurance is missing.
Sources Referenced
The purpose of the below citations and summaries is to ensure that sources used are clear and accessible. Web links to the sources are provided, where possible.
Document summaries are provided for any document where analysis produced more than ten ‘coded segments’. ‘Coded segments’ refer to portions of a document that analysts identified and labelled as relevant to the key themes for each Vision Statement.
All documents that have informed the development of the Vision Statement, even if they had fewer than 10 coded segments, are cited in the ‘Additional Sources’ box below.
This report, published by the Care Inspectorate in 2024, reviews disabled children and young people's experiences with social work services in Scotland. It aims to understand their views and experiences, assess how well their rights are upheld, and inform policymakers to improve outcomes for them. The review was conducted between May 2023 and May 2024, gathering information from children, young people, parents, carers, and social work staff across 32 local authority areas, with a focus on four specific regions.
The review found that, while respectful relationships are crucial, many disabled children's views are not heard due to high demand and resource pressures, leading to limited staff time and frequent changes in personnel. When support is timely and appropriate, it helps children grow, but increasing complexity of needs often outweighs available support. Children frequently lack meaningful choices about their support, and parents and carers, who provide significant care, need better protection for their wellbeing. The quality of social work assessments and plans varies, often missing parts of a child’s needs, and transitions into adulthood remain uncertain. Social work’s role is frequently misunderstood, while poor data and no shared definition of disability make planning and budgeting harder.
The report concludes that, despite previous findings highlighting inequities, necessary improvements have not been made, leading to many children not receiving timely help. It calls for a shared approach from the Scottish Government, local authorities, and other organisations to define the social work role, strengthen early intervention, maximise opportunities for play and friendships, and ensure adequate resourcing. A national conversation about resource reality and its impact on disabled children's lives is needed to achieve Scotland's ambition of being the best place for children to grow up.
Disabled Children and Young People’s Experiences of Social Work Services: A Thematic Review. Care Inspectorate, 2024. https://www.careinspectorate.com/images/documents/7714/Thematic%20review%20of%20services%20for%20disabled%20CYP.pdf.
This Care Inspectorate report looks at how children and young people are cared for in secure care and what needs to improve to ensure their rights are respected, including whether new rules made by the Scottish Government are helping young people and staff.
Approximately 200 people participated in the study, including young people, family members, professionals and Local Authority representatives. The journeys of 30 young people were also tracked over a one-year period.
The Care Inspectorate found that progress has been made in meeting the aims of the secure care Pathway and Standards, but significant gaps remain across the full journey into, through and out of secure care. The new rules have had the strongest impact for those in secure care, where most young people experienced improved safety, felt listened to, had their rights upheld, and benefited from specialist support and education. Some positive preventative effects were noted—where intensive, relationship-based community support and clear risk-planning processes helped prevent admission.
However, the greatest weaknesses were found after young people leave secure care. Many experienced a sharp drop in support, struggled to access health and wellbeing services, lost educational progress, and faced homelessness or serious safety risks, leading to re-admissions. Ongoing problems included unequal access to community resources, inconsistent understanding of secure care’s therapeutic purpose, lack of stable relationships, and variation in restrictive practices.
Secure Care Pathway Review. Care Inspectorate, 2023. https://www.careinspectorate.com/images/documents/7293/Secure%20care%20pathway%20review%202023.pdf.
This report was published by the Centre for Excellence for Children's Care and Protection (CELCIS), a leading improvement and innovation centre based at the University of Strathclyde.
The Scottish Government asked CELCIS to conduct this research to gather information to help them make decisions about how to best deliver children's services in Scotland. The main goal of the research was to answer: "What is needed to ensure that children, young people and families get the help they need, when they need it?".
This specific report is 'Strand 4' of a larger study and focuses on understanding the opportunities, challenges, and barriers faced by the children's services workforce. It explores their views on local services, how different agencies work together, support for young people moving into adult services, relationships between families and professionals, and the support available to the workforce itself. The report uses surveys, focus groups, and interviews to gather these perspectives.
Dr Alex McTier, Mihaela Manole, Jane Scott, et al. Children’s Services Reform Research: Scotland’s Children’s Services Landscape: The Views and Experiences of the Children’s Services Workforce. CELCIS, 2023. https://www.celcis.org/knowledge-bank/search-bank/childrens-services-reform-research-scotlands-childrens-services-landscape-views-and-experiences-childrens-services-workforce.
This report, published by the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection (CELCIS), and the Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research (SCADR), was created to better understand the experiences and outcomes of children and young people in kinship care in Scotland, especially since this type of care has significantly increased. The study also aimed to evaluate how useful existing administrative data is for this kind of research.
The research used anonymised data from approximately 19,000 children in formal kinship care in Scotland between 2008 and 2019. This data was linked with records from education, health visiting, and children's hearings. The study found that kinship care is increasingly common, with regional differences often linked to deprivation. Children in kinship care often have complex needs, including higher rates of additional support needs and developmental concerns, and face poorer educational outcomes compared to other children, although these have improved over time.
Most children entered kinship care early in their care journey and often remained within their wider family network after leaving. The report highlights that while many children thrive, tailored support is crucial for kinship families. It also points out the need for more timely data, better understanding of regional variations, and further research into informal kinship care. The authors stress that administrative data alone cannot fully capture children's experiences, and direct feedback from those with lived experience is essential.
Dr Joanna Soraghan and Dr Robert Porter. Growing Up in Kinship Care. CELCIS; Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research (SCADR), 2024. https://www.celcis.org/news/news-pages/new-research-highlights-need-increased-support-scotlands-kinship-families.
This learning account explores a project by two clinical psychologists from the Children and Family Trauma Partnership, working with the Dundee Kinship Care Team. The project sought to integrate psychological support into kinship care, addressing gaps in existing services across Scotland.
The project involved psychologists working alongside social workers and family support workers, introducing new approaches through shared decision-making. The goal was to empower the kinship workforce and carers with trauma-informed practices, reducing reliance on external psychological services.
The project achieved several successes, including responsive support that reduced waiting times and carer anxiety. It fostered receptiveness by focusing on carers' wellbeing and helped prevent relationship breakdowns. The team also embraced continuous learning, reflecting on trauma-informed practices daily, and developed shared values with the psychologists, leading to a better understanding of children's behaviours as trauma responses.
A significant development was the creation of an assessment framework, which moved beyond paperwork to focus on how the team engages with kinship carers, ensuring a safe and understanding process. However, challenges included the project's time-limits, which could lead to frustration if support is withdrawn, and the difficulty in measuring the long-term impact and cost-benefit of early intervention.
Looking ahead, the team hopes these lessons will shape future practice and policy, advocating for consistent, embedded psychological support within social care across Scotland. They believe that meaningful change comes from strong relationships and a commitment to long-term resilience for all involved in kinship care.
Whyte, Dr Emily, and Dr Lisa Craig. Dundee Kinship Care Team: A Learning Account. Corra Foundation, n.d.
This report was written by the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) and commissioned by the Scottish Government. Its purpose is to create a new vision for secure care in Scotland, aiming to reduce the number of children deprived of their liberty and remove children from Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) by 2024, aligning with the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024 and the UNCRC. The report builds on previous recommendations that no child should be in secure care, advocating for community-based support.
The vision, codesigned with children, young people, families, and professionals, proposes three core components: Community-Based Hubs, Multi-Disciplinary Teams (MDTs), and Flex Secure. Community Hubs are flexible local spaces offering tailored support, including temporary accommodation during crises. MDTs provide specialised, holistic, 24/7 support, ensuring continuity and integration across services, with a key person maintaining a consistent relationship with the child and family. Flex Secure offers intensive 24/7 care for children in home-like environments within communities, with adaptable security and a focus on family involvement and education.
These components are guided by principles such as child and family inclusion, whole family support, balanced empowerment of rights and liberty, education as a foundation, public protection, trauma-transformative practice, and a trained workforce. The report highlights the need for collective agreement, resource realignment, and public engagement to achieve this vision, which aims to keep children close to their families and communities while ensuring their safety and wellbeing.
Reimagining Secure Care - Final Report: A Vision for the Reimagined/Future World. Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ), 2024. https://www.cycj.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Reimagining-Secure-Care-Final-Report.pdf.
This Phase One report on the North Strathclyde Bairns Hoose Evaluation was published in March 2023. The report aims to understand the current experiences of children and families in North Strathclyde after abuse or mistreatment, and to evaluate the development process of the Bairns Hoose- Scotland's first adaptation of the European Barnahus model.
The evaluation identifies areas where current systems can be challenging for children and families, including delays in accessing therapeutic support, lengthy justice processes, communication difficulties, and aspects of court proceedings that can be experienced as distressing. The report recognises that these experiences are shaped by wider system factors such as unclear professional roles, short-term funding arrangements, and services working across different structures.
Alongside these challenges, the Bairns Hoose project has made progress, supported by a national push for change and Children First’s leadership. Its development has been helped by a national commitment to change, the leadership and advocacy of Children First, and opportunities to learn from established Barnahus models, including in Iceland. The report also reflects on areas requiring continued attention, such as infrastructure timelines, long-term sustainability, and strengthening relationships across agencies. It concludes that openly acknowledging these complexities and fostering shared ownership will be key to enabling the Bairns Hoose to grow, respond to children’s needs, and contribute to learning for wider national implementation.
Mitchell, Mary, Camille Warrington, John Devaney, Peter Yates, and Jennifer Lavoie. North Strathclyde Bairns Hoose Evaluation: Phase One Report. 2023. https://researchonline.gcu.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/92593848/92438102.pdf.
This interim report, authored by Nadia Ayed, Suzanne Fitzpatrick, Peter Mackie, and Ian Thomas, and published by I-SPHERE and Heriot Watt University in February 2025, evaluates the first year of the Upstream Scotland pilot. The report aims to understand how the initiative, inspired by the Australian Geelong Project, is being put into practice in Scotland to prevent youth homelessness.
The Upstream Scotland pilot, led by Rock Trust, involves six secondary schools across three local authority areas. It uses a school-based survey to find young people at risk of homelessness and offers them support. The evaluation highlights the successful recruitment of different schools and the strong relationships built with them.
Key findings show that over 1 in 10 young people in pilot schools are at risk of youth homelessness, like elsewhere in the UK. Many of these young people are engaged with school but show lower levels of resilience and wellbeing. A significant challenge has been getting parents' permission for support, which has caused delays. The report suggests considering a "whole family" approach and improving data privacy and consent processes for future implementation.
Early impacts include increased awareness of homelessness among students and teachers, reduced stigma, and improved wellbeing for some young people. The report highlights the need for clearer communication about the initiative, refining consent processes, and potentially expanding the support to include whole families to address the root causes of youth homelessness more effectively.
Ayed, Nadia, Suzanne Fitzpatrick, Peter Mackie, and Ian Thomas. Upstream Scotland Pilot Evaluation. Interim Report. Rock Trust, 2025. https://www.rocktrust.org/download/upstream-scotland-pilot-evaluation-2025/.
This report, authored by Dr. Robin Sen and Dr. Autumn Roesch-Marsh from the University of Edinburgh, and Dr. Andrew Burns from the Association for Fostering, Kinship & Adoption Scotland (AFKA), details a knowledge exchange project. It was created to address the lack of research on housing issues for kinship families in Scotland, despite anecdotal evidence suggesting significant problems. The project aimed to build an evidence base to help kinship families, practitioners, and policymakers understand the nature and extent of these issues and formulate solutions.
The study involved surveys of kinship carers and practitioners, roundtable discussions, and a workshop. It found that kinship care is the most common form of out-of-home care in Scotland, yet kinship carers often receive less support than other carers. A significant number of kinship families face housing challenges, primarily overcrowding and affordability issues, which negatively impact the mental wellbeing of all family members.
Key recommendations include integrating housing needs into social work assessments, improving communication between housing and social work services, and developing a national strategy for kinship carer support. The report also calls for more social housing, particularly larger properties, and easier access to housing adaptation grants for kinship carers. These changes are crucial for Scotland to fulfil its commitments to improving the care ‘system’ and ensuring suitable housing for all.
Sen, Robin, Andrew Burns, and Autumn Roesch-Marsh. Understanding the Housing Needs of Kinship Families: A Knowledge Exchange Project. 2024. https://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/assets/pdf/research-projects/Kinship_care_Report_digital_2024.pdf.
Who Cares? Scotland—a national independent membership organisation for care experienced people, dedicated to supporting, empowering and amplifying the voices of Scotland’s care community—provided targeted analysis of their existing evidence for The Promise Story of Progress, sharing material that mapped to the relevant vision statements and contributed insight into how their internal data, participation activity, and qualitative evidence could inform the experiential strand of the Promise Story of Progress.
Their reports reflected advocacy work carried out between 1st January 2020 and 30th June 2025, during which time Who Cares? Scotland advocacy workers supported around 4,800 individuals. Although the report findings do not represent the experience of every care experienced individual in Scotland, they highlight issues that need continued attention as Scotland works to understand what is changing and what still needs to be addressed.
An anonymised and abridged collation of these reports is available at: Who Cares? Scotland. The Promise Story of Progress: Vision Statement advocacy reports by Who Cares? Scotland (abridged). The Promise Scotland, 2025. https://www.plan2430.scot/media/r0jiy2pl/2025-12-17-the-promise-story-of-progress-vision-statement-advocacy-reports-by-who-cares-scotland_abridged.pdf
Allik, Mirjam, Denise Brown, Edit Gedeon, Alastair H Leyland, and Marion Henderson. Children’s Health in Care in Scotland (CHiCS): Main Findings from Population-Wide Research. University of Glasgow, 2022. https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/279347/.
APS Group Scotland. Fairer Futures Partnerships Evaluation Strategy: Equality and Welfare. Social Research Series. Scottish Government, 2025.
Ayed, Nadia, Suzanne Fitzpatrick, Peter Mackie, and Ian Thomas. Upstream Scotland Pilot Evaluation. Interim Report. Rock Trust, 2025. https://www.rocktrust.org/download/upstream-scotland-pilot-evaluation-2025/.
Care Inspectorate. “Children’s Rights, Care Experience and Corporate Parenting.” https://www.careinspectorate.com/index.php/corporate-parenting.
CELCIS. “‘I Just Wanted Somebody to Be Kind’ Providing Early Support to Families in East Lothian.” 2024. https://stories.celcis.org/families-together-programme/.
CELCIS. “The ‘Bright Spots’ Programme Scottish Pilot Commenced in Early 2022 with Three Local Authorities.” https://www.celcis.org/Brightspots.
Cusworth, Linda, Linda Hooper, Gillian Henderson, Helen Whincup, and Karen Broadhurst. Born into Care in Scotland: Circumstances, Recurrence and Pathways. Scottish Government, 2022. https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/research-and-analysis/2022/04/born-care-scotland-circumstances-recurrence-pathways/documents/born-care-scotland-circumstances-recurrence-pathways/born-care-scotland-circumstances-recurrence-pathways/govscot%3Adocument/born-care-scotland-circumstances-recurrence-pathways.pdf.
Dennell, Brandi Lee Lough, Robert B Porter, and Micky Anderson. ‘Non-Compulsory Care for Children and Young People: Learning from Research on Section 25 Arrangements. What is next for Scotland?’ Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care 23, no. 2 (2024). https://www.celcis.org/section25.
Disabled Children and Young People’s Experiences of Social Work Services: A Thematic Review. Care Inspectorate, 2024. https://www.careinspectorate.com/images/documents/7714/Thematic%20review%20of%20services%20for%20disabled%20CYP.pdf.
Dr Alex McTier, Mihaela Manole, Jane Scott, et al. Children’s Services Reform Research: Scotland’s Children’s Services Landscape: The Views and Experiences of the Children’s Services Workforce. CELCIS, 2023. https://www.celcis.org/knowledge-bank/search-bank/childrens-services-reform-research-scotlands-childrens-services-landscape-views-and-experiences-childrens-services-workforce.
Dr Joanna Soraghan and Dr Robert Porter. Growing Up in Kinship Care. CELCIS; Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research (SCADR), 2024. https://www.celcis.org/news/news-pages/new-research-highlights-need-increased-support-scotlands-kinship-families.
Family Pictures on the Wall and a Strong Sense of Self Growing up in Kinship Care. CELCIS, 2025. https://www.celcis.org/knowledge-bank/search-bank/blog/family-pictures-wall-and-strong-sense-self-growing-kinship-care.
Fostering and Adoption Statistical Bulletin 2024-2025. Care Inspectorate, 2025. https://www.careinspectorate.com/images/documents/fostering_and_adoption/Fostering_and_adoption_statistical_bulletin_2024-2025.pdf.
Galloway, Susan, and Rachel Love. #Keeping the promise to Infants, 0-3 Years. NSPCC Scotland, 2023. https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research-resources/2023/keeping-the-promise-to-infants-in-scotland.
Impact Evaluation Phase 5 (2020 to 2023) CashBack For Communities Final Report. CashBack for Communities, 2023. https://cashbackforcommunities.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/CashBack-Phase-5-Final-Evaluation.pdf.
Joint Inspections of Services for Children and Young People at Risk of Harm: Review of Findings from the Joint Inspection Programme 2021 2025. Care Inspectorate, 2025. https://www.careinspectorate.com/images/documents/8239/RevFindings_JISCYP_2021-2025.pdf.
McTier, Dr Alex, Mihaela Manole, Jane Scott, et al. Children’s Services Reform Research: Scotland’s Children’s Services Landscape: The Views and Experiences of the Children’s Services Workforce. CELCIS, 2023. https://www.celcis.org/knowledge-bank/search-bank/childrens-services-reform-research-scotlands-childrens-services-landscape-views-and-experiences-childrens-services-workforce.
McTier, Dr Alexander, Carol Ann Anderson, and Emma Young. Births to Care Experienced Teenagers and Women Aged 14-24 in Scotland: An Estimation. Final Report. CELCIS, 2023. https://www.celcis.org/knowledge-bank/search-bank/births-care experienced-teenagers-and-women-aged-14-24-scotland.
Mitchell, Mary, Camille Warrington, John Devaney, Peter Yates, and Jennifer Lavoie. North Strathclyde Bairns Hoose Evaluation: Phase One Report. 2023. https://researchonline.gcu.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/92593848/92438102.pdf.
Morris, Mary. “Reasons to Be Cheerful: Factors Making a Positive Difference to Children in Residential Care in Scotland.” Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care 22, no. 2 (2023).
Ottaway, Dr Heather, Dr Nadine Fowler, Dr Leanne McIver, and Linda Davidson. Towards Modernising Adoption in Scotland: A Focused Mapping Review. CELCIS, 2024. https://www.celcis.org/knowledge-bank/search-bank/towards-modernising-adoption-Scotland-focused-mapping-review.
Ottaway, Heather, Alexander McTier, Mihaela Manole, et al. Children’s Services Reform Research: Learning and Implications for Scotland. Concluding Report. CELCIS, 2023. https://www.celcis.org/knowledge-bank/search-bank/childrens-services-reform-research-concluding-report.
Public Health Scotland: Corporate Parenting Vision and Plan 2025-2028. Public Health Scotland, 2025.
Raab, Gillian, Joanna Soraghan, Cecilia Macintyre, Janice McGhee, and Patricio Troncoso. Infants Born into Care in Scotland (2008-2021). Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research (SCADR), 2023. https://www.scadr.ac.uk/news-and-events/news-updated-report-infants-born-care-scotland.
Reaching Back Earlier for Care Experienced Learners: An Evaluation of the Learning Explorers Pilot. The Hub for Success, 2022. https://hubforsuccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/LE-evaluation-report.pdf.
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