More information about the review
Exploring the delivery, experience and impact of services when young people are planning to leave care and after they have moved on.
We have now completed a thematic review of the experiences of young people leaving care in Scotland and the extent to which their rights are upheld. The review was started in April 2024 and a final report was published on the 5 November 2024.
In 2021, the A Way Home Coalition published Youth Homeless Prevention Pathway: Improving Care Leavers Housing Pathways. This paper highlighted the need for equality in provision of aftercare services, the importance of pathway planning and of reducing risks and crises for young people in Scotland. The following recommendation was made:
The Scottish Government should work with the Care Inspectorate to develop and undertake robust thematic integrated reviews of ‘transition services’ involving key stakeholders and providers (such as housing and accommodation and further and higher education) and Aftercare engagement up to 26.
Purpose of the review
The review focussed on the experiences of young people aged between 16 and 26 who are, or have been, formally looked after and accommodated in foster care or care homes for children and young people. We were committed to seeking the views of young people about how they felt their rights were being upheld. It was carried out under Section 53 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010.
The review aimed to establish the following:
- The extent to which young people and their families are actively and meaningfully involved in all decisions about their continued care and have effective opportunities to influence service design and development.
- The extent to which young people’s lives are improving through high quality assessment, planning and support which enables them to live in stable and suitable accommodation which is right for them.
- How leaders ensure the effective delivery of services for young people who are either continuing to be cared for or are leaving care.
Although the statutory duties rest with the local authorities, the review took account of the roles of children’s services planning partners.
We have conducted the review in two phases.
Phase 1
- was based on self-reported information (through a ‘national survey’) provided by leaders and staff with responsibility for corporate parenting, and the local champions’ boards (or equivalent) of all 32 local authorities.
- we undertook a literature review, including national research and publications, and additional published reports.
- we gathered feedback from focus groups with scrutiny partners, a professional interest group and regulated care service inspectors.
- we also took account of relevant national data.
Phase 2
We offered children’s services partnerships in four local authority areas the opportunity to take part in phase two to support their development in this part of their work and help us better understand the experiences of young people in their area. Our intention was that these four areas would support our work in phase two which was made up of the following key elements:
- a focused meeting with the lead professionals for five selected young people in each area: combining a case discussion with access to records.
- individual meetings with the five young people
- focus groups of senior leaders, champions boards and corporate parenting boards.
- a review of relevant local documentation.
Reporting
The thematic review concluded with the publication of a single national overview report, with individual feedback also given to each of the four participating areas. While we were not evaluating partnerships on their performance, we have reported on what is working well across Scotland. We have also reported on the current challenges for transition services; drawing on the perspectives of young people, families, and staff supporting care experienced young people.
- Final report
- Key messages (press release)
The lead for this review was Jackie Deas, supported by Elena Mills, Strategic Support Officer.
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Care experienced young people thematic review
Exploring the delivery, experience and impact of services when young people are planning to leave care and after they have moved on.
The Care Inspectorate has now published a final report of a thematic review in relation to the experience of young people in throughcare and aftercare.
The review reports on how well services were supporting young people and making sure that their rights were respected. We were specifically interested in how young people were supported as they planned for leaving care and after they had moved on. These services were supporting young people with housing, health or in relation to education or employment. They were also working with young people who had decided to stay put, including young people in continuing care. At the heart of our approach was ensuring that we elevated the voice of people with lived experience of these services.
Earlier in 2024 a ‘national survey’ was sent to all local authority areas in Scotland. It provided a wealth of information that helped us to direct the next stages of the review. We particularly welcomed the good practice examples that were highlighted and we have referenced these in our final report.
In August and September we were able to take a closer look in four participating areas. In August, the review team met with lead professionals for five young people in each area to read records. In September, we had two weeks of local engagement where we met young people and staff. Alongside this, a survey was open for young people and frontline staff.
Thank you to the young people and the staff who supported them from the four areas that participated in this review - Shetland, Edinburgh, North Lanarkshire and Dumfries and Galloway. We really appreciated the time they took to complete our survey and to meet us in person. Thank you also to the young people in our regulated housing support services who completed the young people’s survey.
The final report was published on 5 November 2024 and we will be hosting an online event to present the findings from the review.
In the video below, Rania Hamad, strategic inspector, shares the key messages from our review of transitions for care experienced young people in the four areas that participated in the review.
More information about this review can be found in the following links:
- Final report
- Key messages (press release)
- More information about the review
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Podcasts
Boxset 1 - Meaningful Connection
The Anne’s Law project advisers speak with real-life people about real-life stories that will resonate with all of us. People like Jenny, manager at Glennie House; Ken, a care home resident; Natasha, from Care Homes Relatives Scotland; professionals from across the sector and many more. Packed with insightful, thought-provoking ideas and tips to stay connected with your loved ones, these podcasts have something for everyone.
David Marshall, Senior Improvement Adviser (Pharmacy) and Katy Jenks, HC One Dementia Care Manager, Scotland discuss improving dementia care and reducing inappropriate use of psychoactive medicines in care homes.
Listen anywhere, anytime to the episodes that interest you. Listen on Spotify, Amazon Music, wherever you get your podcasts. Alternatively, you can listen on Podbean.
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Update - January 2024
What we have done since our last briefing in September 2023
We have been working alongside the four areas that came forward to be part of more detailed work.
- Aberdeen city
- Dundee city
- Dumfries and Galloway
- Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles)
We now have staff survey responses from these four areas. We have reviewed these alongside all the evidence we gathered earlier this year from the national survey and our review of existing literature.
This has helped us develop our understanding of social work’s contribution to upholding the rights of disabled children and young people in Scotland.
We have used our findings so far to help us plan our next steps and inform the key questions we will ask children, families and staff.
Our stakeholder community has continued to be involved, helping to shape our approach to engagement activities.
Planning for our next steps is well underway in the four areas and we are grateful for all the time and effort they have already given to this review.
Next steps
We are now entering the busiest stage of our review and will be working with our four areas on the following.
In January we will be reviewing 30 children’s social work’s records in each of the areas. This will help us build our understanding of the effectiveness of assessments, plans and reviews in ensuring children benefit from the right help and the right time. These records have been sampled randomly.
In January we will ask each of the four areas to share a video and information leaflet with children and their parents or carers to inform them of our review and invite them to become involved.
Between 22 January and 29 February we will open an electronic questionnaire for children and young people to complete online. This will be one of a range of ways we will gather views directly from children and young people. The arrangements for completing the questionnaire will be shared by each of the four local authorities.
In February we will be on-site in each of the four areas. We want to gather the views of children and their parents or carers and the staff who work with them. We will meet with children wherever they are most comfortable. For some children this might be with friends or family. For others it might be alongside workers who are important to them. We hope the important people in children’s lives will help us to do this. We will work alongside staff in each of the four areas to ensure we are inclusive and respect children’s rights in our approach.
If you have any questions for the review team, they can be contacted via email on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
We’d like to thank everyone who has been involved in this review.
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Update - September 2023
What we have done so far
Following the notification of the thematic review, we issued a survey to social work teams across Scotland. By mid- august we had received responses from all 32 local authority areas. We are now looking at the information from the survey. This is helping us to build a picture about social work’s contribution to how well disabled children and young people’s needs are assessed, planned for, and met.
We have been reading national reports and research to find out what disabled children and young people have already said what is important to them, and about their experiences of support.
Conversations with our key stakeholders, are helping us to develop our ideas about our engagement approaches with children and young people. We are keen that we explore opportunities to ensure that our approach is rights based, accessible and is inclusive.
We will use all the information we have gathered so far to help us identify our focus during the next stage.
Next steps
Four areas have volunteered to help us better understand children and young people’s experiences and the difference social work services are making to their lives. We are pleased to welcome them to this next stage of the review. The areas are:
- Aberdeen city
- Dundee city
- Dumfries and Galloway
- Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles)
We will be working with these social work teams from September 2023 to March 2024.
More information can be found on our website here.
If you have any questions for the review team, they can be contacted via email on:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
We’d like to thank everyone who has been involved in this review.
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