October 2014 - October 2016
Completed Projects
Unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people: educational provision
Dr Ellie Ott is leading research on the educational provisions offered to UASC in England and the forms of provision in high-income countries that are associated with improved outcomes (eg education, health and employment).
Teenagers in foster care: the critical role of carers and other adults
October 2014 - October 2015
An ESRC-funded seminar series to address issues around fostering teenagers including offending, sexual exploitation and asylum seekers.
Evaluation London Fostering Achievement Programme
October 2014 - October 2015
A mixed methods evaluation of this programme that is designed to improve educational outcomes for fostered children in London.
Supporting mental health of looked after children around primary-secondary transition
September 2014 - September 2017
The three-year project ran from September 2014 to September 2017 and involved the Universities of Sussex and Surrey, the Rees Centre at the University of Oxford, and the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
Impact of Unproven Allegations on Foster Carers
October 2013 - October 2016
This research study aimed to explore the impact of unproven allegations on carers in order to improve the way that allegations are dealt with by fostering services, local authorities and the police.
Research Reviews
January 2013 - December 2017
These reports were published by the Rees Centre between 2013 and 2017 on topics related to foster care and education.
Linking care and educational data: the educational progress of looked after children in England
October 2012 - October 2015
First major study in the UK to explore the relationship between educational outcomes, young people’s care histories and individual characteristics by linking the National Pupil Database (NPD) and the Children Looked After Database in England, for all pupils eligible to take their GCSEs (examinations at age 16 years) in 2013.
Children in Care and Need
January 2017
Protecting children in need and supporting carers
The Rees Centre have been leading research on the factors that contribute to poorer academic outcomes in children in care and children in need in England.
Analysis of Costs in Traditional and Early Permanence Adoption Routes
December 2023
A newly completed project report exploring the costs of adoption in early permanence and traditional adoption routes is now available.
Evaluation of the Mockingbird programme
May 2023
We have been asked to evaluate the Mockingbird programme is part of the Department for Education (DfE) funded Supporting Families: Investing in Practice programme, which is expanding and rolling out promising interventions that came through the DfE’s Innovation Programme.
Social Impact Bond – Moving from Residential to Foster Care
September 2018
Evaluation of Birmingham City Council’s Step Down Programme
Some young people in residential care have poor outcomes and are placed too far from their families to maintain any contact.
Ethics review of machine learning in children’s social care
January 2020
The Rees Centre is partnering with The Alun Turing Intitute, the national institute for data science and artificial intelligence, to conduct this review commissioned by the What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care.