HTML

This article explores the impact of abandonment abuse and neglect, not only on children but, centrally, on the foster carers, adopters and kinship carers who parent children where it has been deemed that a return home to birth parents is not in their interests. (For purposes of simplicity we will refer to these carers as ‘parenting figures’.) In doing this we aim to provide parenting figures with support and understanding as well as reducing the feelings of isolation that is often integral to parenting ‘looked after’ children.

Home supervision requirements are a type of legal supervision order at home which is unique to the Scottish system of child legislation.

This project aims to identify factors which contribute to effective, child focussed, SMART plans for children by getting the views of social workers who work in child protection and those who chair child protection case conferences.

It will consider ways of working in a more inclusive, collaborative way with children and their families, as well as ways to work more effectively in partnership with other agencies. It will also consider whether the Signs of Safety approach to child protection has a role to play in making plans more effective.

Home not Housing was one of five Scottish Universities Insight Institute programmes on Wellbeing.

A set of ideas workshops explored the concept of ‘home’ from the perspectives of various academic disciplines – housing, planning, social work, healthcare – in order to develop a common vocabulary that will better inform policies relating to house-building, home-working, home-care and general place liveability.

This blog records the discussions and findings of the workshops.

While there is a growing body of research about carers’ experiences generally, the needs and experience of those who support individuals in forensic (secure) mental health services (forensic carers) have been neglected

Support in Mind Scotland (SiMS) and the Forensic Network commissioned this study from the University of Central Lancashire to examine what they identified as ‘significant gaps and inconsistencies’, focusing in particular on the views and experiences of forensic carers.

The Sight and Sound Project used creative sensory methods to explore how young people who are looked after feel that they belong, or do not belong, in the places that they live. In this project the concept of belonging, which is often used in relation to faith or ethnic groups is applied to home spaces. Research suggests that ‘sensory experience can provide a strong sense of belonging’ and that sounds, textures and what people see in the places they live are important in terms of making a person feel “at home’.

The Advocacy Project works with older people and other groups across Glasgow and Lanarkshire to ensure their voice is heard, their needs met and their legal rights safeguarded.

The organisation identified a low take up of their own service by older people from BME communities, which was generally held to reflect the wider picture in Glasgow in relation to health and social work services.

This research was undertaken by Stuart Fordyce as part of an MSc in Integrated Service Improvement (Health and Social Care) at the University of Edinburgh.
It considers the impact of a rapidly ageing population on a Scottish local authority and its attempt to shift the focus to a more contemporary service provision. The aim is to explore what factors are inhibiting the effectiveness of enablement.

Fiona Sherwood-Johnson believes that it is helpful to think of adult support and protection as something that’s constructed – that is, as something that policy and legislation have a hand in constructing, and something that gets continually re-constructed on the ground. She is blogging on Research Unbound to share her thoughts and ideas on ASP.

MSc Dissertation on Research Unbound. Transitions between children’s and adult social care services for disabled young people are recognised internationally as being challenging for the young person, their families and services. The dissertation explored the phenomenon of informed choice in relation to the policy of self-directed support for disabled young people in transition from child to adult social care supports.