Examining potential inequalities in the outcomes of care experienced children

The Impact of Covid-19 on Children’s Care Journeys in Scotland: An Analysis of the Administrative Data on 'Looked After' Children

The research was conducted using the Scottish Government’s Longitudinal Looked After Children Dataset, which is described in detail in the accompanying Data Explained. This document has been created as a resource for existing and future users of this dataset, and it is hoped that it will be useful in supporting individuals to understand and utilise the data. 

Discussion

Throughout the report, the co-authors determine: 

• How did the pandemic affect the rates of children entering care? Was this effect the same regardless of gender, ethnicity, or other characteristics? Did the effect vary across different regions? Were children and young people entering care into different types of placements, or under different legal reasons?
• Did the pandemic affect the rate at which young people were leaving care? Did this vary across different regions? Did the destinations of young people leaving care change?
• What impact did the pandemic have on the stability of children and young people’s care placements? Were children moving more or less frequently? Was the stability of certain types of placement impacted more strongly than others?

This report provides insights into the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the processes surrounding Looked After Children in Scotland.

Conclusion

This research provides detailed insights into the disruptions experienced within children’s social care throughout the initial 16 months of the Covid-19 pandemic, specifically in terms of entries to and exits from care, and the stability of children’s placements. It was found that the impact was substantial - with large reductions seen in the number of children and young people both entering and leaving care at this time, alongside a decrease in movement for children who remained in care. It is hoped that these insights will prove useful as Scotland seeks to recover from the pandemic and work towards fulfilling the ambitions of The Promise.  

The report also highlights that, as this research was carried out on data available to July 2021, there would be great benefit in further analysis and research being conducted when more recent data becomes available.    

You can download the full report here, as well as the Data Explained.