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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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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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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