Parenthood and Care Experience: To what extent are care experienced adults more likely to experience social work involvement during their own parenthood, and what factors are associated with this involvement?
Background
The Promise takes a lifelong view of care experience, emphasising that its impacts do not end at childhood or at the transition out of care. It recognises that care experienced adults may continue to face disadvantage and stigma across a range of life domains, and that public services and wider systems do not always recognise or respond to care experience in adulthood. Central to The Promise is the assertion that care experience should be understood and responded to as a factor shaping people’s lives over time, not as a time-limited status.
A strong evidence base in this area would deepen understanding of the long-term outcomes and lived experiences of care experienced adults, including in relation to health, wellbeing, housing, employment, relationships, parenthood, and interactions with public services. Evidence is needed on how systems identify and respond to care experience in adulthood, and on the effectiveness of policies or practices designed to offer ongoing recognition or support. Longitudinal and qualitative evidence would be especially valuable in unpacking cumulative impacts, resilience, and the conditions under which early disadvantage is mitigated or reinforced over time, helping to inform a genuinely lifelong approach in line with The Promise.
Next steps
Get in touch with [email protected]
Related UKRI funded projects
-
Looked-after children in Wales: An analysis of the backgrounds of children entering public care
The doctoral research around which my fellowship is centred explored the differences between local authorities in Wales in the rates at which they place children in out of home care, referred to as being a 'looked after'...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
Why might this be relevant?
Partially relevant as it focuses on looked-after children in Wales, not care experienced adults in general.
-
Caring Communities 1800-present: Rethinking Children's Social Care
Children's social care has long been in crisis with reports of abuse, growing numbers of children entering care, declining numbers of carers and diminishing quality of care. The 2022 inquiry into children's social care i...
Funded by: UKRI FLF
Lead research organisation: Newcastle University
Why might this be relevant?
Partially relevant as it focuses on rethinking children's social care historically, not specifically on care experienced adults in parenthood.
-
Comparing health outcomes for care experienced children and children in the general population in Scotland using linked administrative data
Children who are in the care of their local authority (care experienced children, CEC) are one of the most vulnerable groups of people in the society. In 2017 approximately 15,000 children in Scotland were visited by soc...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: University of Glasgow
Why might this be relevant?
Fully relevant as it compares health outcomes for care experienced children in Scotland, addressing factors associated with their involvement in parenthood.