The Care Inspectorate are near to the completion of a thematic review in relation to the experience of young people in throughcare and aftercare.  The roots of this work are in the following reports: A Way Home (p.27) and The Promise (p.93). Both reports suggested the need for reviewing transition services.  The review was undertaken in agreement with the Scottish Government.   

A team from the Care Inspectorate has been trying to find out how well services are supporting young people and making sure that their rights are respected.  We are specifically interested in how young people are supported as they plan for leaving care and after they have moved on.  These services may be supporting young people with housing, health or in relation to education or employment.  They may also be working with young people who have decided to stay put, including young people in continuing care.  At the heart of our approach has been ensuring that we elevate the voice of people with lived experience of these services.   

Thank you very much to everyone who completed our national survey which closed on the 22 May.  This survey was sent to all local authority areas in Scotland and it has 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 intend to tell you more about these. 

In August and September we were able to take a closer look in four different parts of the country.  Shetland, City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway and North Lanarkshire all agreed to participate in this phase of the review.  In August, the review team met with lead professionals for five young people to read records.  In September, we had two weeks of engagement where we met young people and staff in each area.  Alongside this, a survey was open young people and frontline staff. 

We would like to thank City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, Shetland and North Lanarkshire for working with us during the engagement phase of this review which is now complete.  A big thank you to young people and staff who made time to meet us, all the staff who supported young people to complete surveys; to staff who completed surveys and most of all, to all the young people who have shared their views with us.  We are now working towards publication (in November) and will keep you updated here about how we will share the messages learnt and any next steps.  

More information about this review can be found in the following links: 

• More information about the review
• Privacy statement