Section 11 orders (Kinship care orders): To what extent are Section 11 arrangements used as an alternative to the ‘care system’, and what are the implications for children’s rights, support and outcomes?
Background
Scotland’s ambition is for children to be supported to stay within their families wherever it is safe and possible to do so. The overall number of children entering care each year in Scotland is falling, and proportionally more children who do become looked after are living with kinship carers, and fewer are remaining with their parents. These national‑level trends help to understand what is happening, but not how this is being achieved, or the impact on families. To answer that second question, we need better evidence to provide context to national statistics: on the factors that influence whether families can stay together; the support available locally; and the conditions that enable early, preventative help rather than crisis‑driven intervention. Here, prevention is understood primarily in relation to children at risk of entering care and their families, focusing on how earlier identification of unmet need, timely support, and system responses may reduce avoidable escalation to compulsory care.
Next steps
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Source
This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:
Related UKRI funded projects
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Kinship care re-visited: Using Census 2011 Microdata to Examine and Map the Extent and Nature of Kinship Care Households in the UK
The research project will use microdata from the 2011 Census to provide nationally representative, reliable statistics and maps on the distribution and characteristics of kinship care households in the four countries of ...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: University of Bristol
Why might this be relevant?
The project directly addresses the extent and implications of Section 11 arrangements in kinship care households in the UK.
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Understanding What Matters: Developing effective participatory methods from the research into what matters to children living in kinship care.
Kinship care is the caring arrangement in the family constellation for children who cannot remain with birth parents. My PhD research was the first to solely focus on the views of children living in kinship care in Engla...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: University of Sussex
Why might this be relevant?
The project focuses on developing effective participatory methods for children in kinship care, which is relevant to understanding children's rights and support.
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Care pathways and outcomes: The teenage years
Across the UK, when children enter care, they live in a range of different placements, such as foster care, kinship care (with relatives or friends), adoption or with their birth parents. However, adoptive placements are...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: University of Ulster
Why might this be relevant?
The project examines care pathways and outcomes for children in different placements, providing partial insight into the implications for children's rights and outcomes.