Webinar Lunchtime Series: Family Routes – Growing Up in Adoptive and Special Guardianship Families
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The seminar presents the findings on the stability of adoptive ( n=60,110) and special guardianship orders (n=40,080) for children who were placed from care with their new families between 1999-2023. The findings are from a larger Department for Education (DfE) – funded eight-year longitudinal study, Family Routes: growing up in adoptive and special guardianship families. The study aims to understand the experiences, needs, and outcomes of young people aged 12-25 years and their parents/carers during adolescence and the transition to adulthood. The focus of the seminar is on the findings of a quantitative analysis of linked social care datasets (looked after, adopted, children in need, care leavers) and one subgroup of children from the main study: those who left care on an adoption order or to live with a special guardian and later returned to care. The study found that adoption remains the most stable form of permanent placement. Using a latent vulnerability model to understand risks and protective factors, differential risks of disruption were identified in the two types of orders. There was also some evidence that the rates of disruption have decreased since 2015. The data enabled, for the first time, an analysis of why children returned to care, their placement patterns after return, and whether, after a disruption, a stable placement was found.
For in-person attendance, register here.
For online attendance, register here.
*Please note that the speaker will be presenting online.
Bio
Julie is Professor of Education and Adoption. She leads the Hadley programme of research within the Rees Centre.
The research focuses on improving the outcomes for children looked after by the state and those who leave care on permanence orders such as adoption and special guardianship orders. For example, research on understanding the best ways to train and support those who are parenting children who have been maltreated or are traumatised by past experiences. Her research is ‘close to practice’, ensuring strong partnerships with social care agencies and the third sector.
Julie was awarded a CBE for her work in 2015.
Julie has contributed expert evidence to NICE reviews and is an academic advisor to UK and international governments. She has appeared as an expert witness in contested adoption hearings in the Supreme Court in Australia and in family courts in England.