19th September 2018

On Wednesday 19th September 2018, University of Stirling will host an exciting one day event at Stirling Court Hotel to present key findings from the first phase of the study. The day will include presentations on:

• Children’s experiences – what promotes feelings of security?
• Kinship carers/foster carers/adoptive parents - what helps them to help children?
• How are decisions made and in what timescales?
• How are children in kinship care/foster care/with adoptive parents faring in relation to relationships, health, and educational progress 3-4 years after they become accommodated?

Scotland’s Poet Laureate, Jackie Kay, author of ‘The Adoption Papers’, and alumnus of the University of Stirling, and Fiona Duncan, Chair of the Independent Care Review, will contribute to the day.

Our findings draw on data from Children Looked After Statistics (CLAS) for 1,836 children, interviews/focus groups with 160 decision makers, questionnaires completed by carers/adoptive parents and professionals on 643 children, and interviews with 10 children and 20 carers/adoptive parents. For the first time, anonymised data held by Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) and data from CLAS has been linked and analysed to build a fuller picture of the children in this cohort.

An outline of the day and what to expect

8.30 – 9.30am Registration and Coffee

9.30 –9.45am Welcome address by Professor Alison Bowes (Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Stirling University)

9.45 - 10.00am Robert Swift, Independent Consultant, previously Chief Social Work Officer, author of Adopting a Child in Scotland

10.00 – 10.30am Overview of study

10.30 – 11.15am Becoming ‘looked after’

11.15 –11.30am Tea/Coffee

11.30 – 11.45am Small group discussion: What does the data mean?

11.45 – 12.15pm Linkage of Children Looked After Statistics (CLAS) and data held by Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) - what does it tell us?

12.15 – 12.45pm Moving towards permanence

12.45 – 1.30pm Lunch (Finger buffet)

1.30 – 2.15pm Fiona Duncan (Chair of Independent Care Review and Care Experienced Young Person) and Jimmy Paul (Co-Chair of Independent Care Review)

2.15 – 3.00pm Where are the children are now and how are they doing?

3.00 – 3.15pm Tea/Coffee

3.15 – 3.45pm Being and feeling secure: what helps?

3.45 – 4.00pm Small group discussion: What will you take forward from today?

4.00 – 4.45pm Plans for Phase two of the study and then Jackie Kay (Scotland’s Poet Laureate and author of the Adoption Papers) will close the day

About the Permanently Progressing? study

Permanently Progressing? – Building secure futures for children in Scotland is a ground-breaking research study conducted by the Universities of Stirling, York and Lancaster, in collaboration with the Adoption and Fostering Alliance (AFA) Scotland.

Every year, thousands of children in Scotland become ‘looked after’ at home or ‘looked after and accommodated’ away from home. Many remain with or return to parents, but some will live with kinship carers, foster carers or adoptive parents. This project investigated decision-making, permanence, progress, outcomes and belonging for a large cohort (1,836) of children in Scotland who became looked after in 2012-13, aged five or under. It is intended to become a longitudinal project following the children into adolescence and beyond.

The team at University of Stirling is led by Dr Helen Whincup (PI) and includes Dr Margaret Grant (Research Fellow), Dr Alison Hennessy and Jade Hooper (Research Assistant), working with Professor Nina Biehal (co-PI, University of York) and Dr Linda Cusworth (co-investigator, Lancaster University).

Find out more

Website: https://www.stir.ac.uk/ccwp/research/permanently-progressing/

Twitter: @PermProg

Contact: Dr Maggie Grant – margaret.grant@stir.ac.uk

Dietary and other requirements

We would be very grateful if you can advise us if you have any dietary and/or other requirements as soon as you are able to by return of email.

Getting here – directions and parking

Unsure of whether or not you have been to the Stirling Court Hotel recently, we wanted to pass forward details of how to get here, parking arrangements and directions to the venue. All of that information can be found at this link: https://www.stirlingcourthotel.co.uk/location/getting-here/. Although parking at the hotel is free for attendees of events it is very limited and on a first come, first serve basis. There is parking available across the University campus but due to this event being during semester, it is highly unlikely that there will be sufficient spaces to meet demand. A parking charge is also in force across campus so if you are parking, please be sure to pay and display your ticket using one of the machines nearby. Details here: https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/getting-here/#. In short, we encourage that, where possible, you use the excellent public transport links to and from Stirling or Bridge of Allan or arrive well in advance of the event.

Refund policy

The refund policy for Eventbrite is 7 days but we would ask that refunds are requested at the earliest opportunity and where possible within a 28 day period so that we can reallocate your place.