ABSTRACT:

To date, there has been no systematic assessment of the types of health problems that LACYP in Northern Ireland are experiencing, or of the range of initiatives being undertaken to improve health outcomes; there has been no exploration of the barriers to implementation, or of their acceptability and likely impact.

This exploratory study will establish a foundation against which progress in addressing the health needs of LACYP in Northern Ireland can be assessed. These children and young people are a seriously disadvantaged group, who receive limited attention in health services research, and whose poor health potentially impacts on a whole range of outcomes, including educational and economic achievement, quality of life, and future parenting. The study aims to compile a profile of the health of a sample of LACYP in Northern Ireland, and use this to explore how the care system is meeting their needs, and what helps and/or hinders the implementation of initiatives designed to improve their health.

There are four research questions:

• First, what approaches and interventions have been developed to identify and meet the physical and mental health needs of LACYP in Northern Ireland? 
• Second, how effective are these, and what are the factors that help or hinder implementation? 
• Third, to what extent are LACYP, and their carers, involved in these approaches and interventions, and what are their experiences of them? 
• Fourth, how do health professionals (social workers, GPs, CAMHS psychologists, LAC nurses) view their contribution to identifying and meeting the physical and mental health needs of LACYP? 

 ABSTRACT:

Analysis of the data from the Northern Ireland Care Pathways and Outcomes Study (McSherry et al., 2008) indicated that young children in care across the different Trusts in Northern Ireland were very similar in terms of child and family characteristics, i.e. child gender; reason for entry to care; age at entry to care; legal status; mother’s age at birth of child; child health, developmental, and behavioural problems. However, there were major differences in terms of the types of placements provided for them. For example, there were very large numbers of children adopted in the Northern and Southern HSC Trust areas, whilst foster care predominated in the Western HSC Trust.

These findings suggested the existence of a post-code lottery across Northern Ireland in terms of the type of placements provided to these children. The findings suggested that either; professional decision-making regarding long-term plans for young children in care differs from Trust to Trust; or that professional decision-making is similar but variation is occurring in the implementation of these plans. Whichever scenario is correct, it is important to establish what is driving this variation. Is it the particular policy and practice of the Trust? If so, why would Trusts take different approaches to long-term planning with similar groups of children in care? Does the availability of resources or social infrastructure on the ground to support different types of placements impact upon decision-making? Does the particular religious or cultural context of the community have a bearing on the use of particular long-term placements? Does the relationship between the Trust and the local Courts play a role in the type of long-term placement proposed? Does the social context of the Trust locality in terms of its level of poverty, unemployment, social deprivation, community cohesion, and engagement between the Trust and the community, have any bearing on the Trust’s capacity to provide a range of long-term placements for these children?

The purpose of the proposed research is to identify the source or sources of long-term placement variation for children in care across Northern Ireland.

ABSTRACT:

This study aims to:

• investigate the experiences of reunification for children and their parents when the child(ren) returning home is subject to a Care Order; and 
• to examine the purpose and appropriateness of pre-return care plans; the level of Social Service support and assistance provided; and how these relate to decisions about applications for the discharge of Care Orders and other outcomes for children.

ABSTRACT:

The proposed study examines the extent to which these differing perspectives accurately reflect the reality on the ground; and aims to indicate steps that can be taken to reduce this cause of delay in care proceedings.

• To what extent do social work staff and judges share the same understanding of what constitutes an adequate assessment for the purposes of Care Proceedings? 
• To what extent do Social Services assessment reports meet the requirements of judges? 
• What factors undermine the adequacy of Social Services assessments and what is the contribution of inadequate assessments to delays in care proceedings?

 ABSTRACT:

This study seeks to describe and analyse the use of mobile phones in relation to contact between children in care and their family and friends, from the perspective of children and young people, their carers, and other key stakeholders.

Research questions include:

• What role do mobile phones play in maintaining contact between children and young people in care and their families and friends? 
• What do other stakeholders perceive to be the implications of that contact? [Do they view mobile phones as promoting good contact, contributing towards placement stability and generally enhancing outcomes for children? Or do they think that access to mobile phones undermine formally agreed patterns of contact, contribute to unintended consequences (good or bad) and/or undermine placement stability?] 
• What approaches do participants find effective in leveraging the potential benefits of mobile phones as a means of maintaining contact with family and friends, and what do they think works in minimising their adverse consequences when contact is thought best provided on a minimal basis or is not to deemed to be in a child’s best interest?