CELCIS (Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children) and SCRA, both partners in the Stand Up for Siblings movement, have worked together to produce a new research report. The report ‘Contact Decisions in the Children’s Hearings System’ is available to read here. The research considered – When and how, if at all, do decisions relating to contact by Children’s Hearings differ from social work report recommendations?
The key findings included:
- Children and young people’s views on contact are often not recorded in Hearings’ documentation.
- The majority of Hearings’ contact decisions reflect social work recommendations.
- Hearing decisions and social work recommendations are justified using similar reasons.
- Reasons for Hearings’ decisions and social work recommendations are often not well recorded.
- Reasoning for both Hearings’ decisions and social work recommendations is variable.
The report recommends a number of action points going forward.