Research Report: Improving Reunification Practice: Outcomes for Children Returning from Care

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Author: Elaine Farmer, University of Bristol,

Published by: The British Journal of Social Work, March 2014

SUMMARY

In this paper – Improving Reunification Practice: Pathways Home, Progress and Outcomes for Children Returning from Care to Their Parents - Professor Elaine Farmer analyses the outcomes over a period of two years for 180 children from 141 families who were returned from care to their parents in six local authorities.

Farmer draws on a Department for Education-funded study of children who were aged 16 or under two years after they were returned from care. Case records and interviews were used to build a picture of outcomes. Two thirds of the children, who had experienced neglect before entering care, were followed up for a further three years.

For around three quarters of children in the original sample, their return home was planned but 27 per cent of young people returned home with no plan for reunion because they had run away back home, their placement had broken down, or parents had removed them from voluntary placements.

Support, including financial support, respite care and assistance from family support workers, was provided by children's services to 84 per cent of families. Two fifths of the parents and children received specialist support such as input from mental health services or youth offending teams. Outside agencies such as health visitors or the NSPCC played a part in monitoring three fifths of the children (61 per cent). Almost a fifth of parents (17 per cent) and two fifths of children (40 per cent) received no support at all.

Almost half of the returned children's cases were closed before the end of the two-year follow up and a fifth within six months but nearly half of the closed cases had to be reopened. Almost half of children (46 per cent) were abused or neglected after reunification.

By the end of the two-year follow up 47 per cent of returns had broken down, a third within three months, a third between four and nine months and a third within two years. Breakdown rates varied from 75 per cent in one local authority to 32 per cent in another. Parental problems such as mental health issues and substance misuse caused the most breakdowns, then children's behaviour, followed by abuse and neglect. Most breakdowns were likely to be initiated by a parent, child or other relative with the others initiated by social services or the courts.

Seventeen per cent of children returned to their previous placement. Almost two thirds of those whose return broke down were later reunified with parents, and in 50 per cent of these cases the return broke down again.

Returns of children on supervision or care orders were more likely to last than returns of children who had been taken into care voluntarily, perhaps because those on court orders tended to be younger, received more services and had more conditions to be met before their return.

The best predictors of a stable return were where the child had not been physically abused, there had been no oscillation between care and home, parents had actively sought reunion, there was adequate preparation of children and parents and there was foster carer assistance.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

There should be more involvement by foster carers and residential workers in preparing children for return and providing follow-up support, the researchers conclude.

Social workers should be trained to recognise substance misuse and make realistic assessments, and be able to access specialist services for parents. There is a need to review reunification practice where parents have substance misuse problems and introduce clear expectations that parents will be required to have treatment before children are returned. In all cases, standards of care and conduct during the return must be explicitly agreed and regularly reviewed with action taken when they are not met.

FURTHER READING

Caring for Abused and Neglected Children: Making the Right Decisions for Reunification or Long-term Care, Jim Wade, Nina Biehal, Nicola Farrelly and Ian Sinclair, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London, 2011. This book compares the experiences of children who remained in care or returned to their birth families.

The Journey Home: How Children's Services Can Support The Reunification of Children With Their Families, The Who Cares? Trust, 2006. This report reviews approaches to and outcomes of reunification practice.

Reuniting Looked After Children With Their Families, Nina Biehal, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2006. A critical review of existing research.