Born into care in Scotland: circumstances, recurrence and pathways

10. Pathways and permanence outcomes for children

To consider the longer-term pathways and outcomes for infants who became looked after away from home on a CSO before they were a year old, data were recorded on decisions and plans, including for permanence, during the two-year period after the CSO was granted. As with children's routes into the CHS, there is a complexity to the paths that children subsequently take.

There are different routes to permanence for children, including remaining with or being reunited to parents.^[20] Thirteen infants (19%) were reunified with parents at some stage within the two-year period after they were first looked after away from home on a CSO, although one subsequently re-entered care.^[21] At the two-year point, five children were living with both parents, five with their mother only and two with their father only. Half of these placements with parents were secured by a CSO and one with a Residence Order.

By the end of the two-year period, a decision for permanence away from home had been made for all of the remaining 58 children, although not all were in their permanent placement. For the majority of the infants where permanence away from home had been identified (40, 69%) the plan was for adoption. Permanence with kinship carers was planned for around one in five (13) of the infants, and placement with permanent unrelated foster carers for two infants. Information on the type of permanence planned was missing from the records of three infants.

Infants who had come to the CHS and been placed on a CSO via the 'CPO route' were more likely to have adoption identified as the plan for permanence (74%) than infants on the 'Section 25 route' (58%).

The guidance on the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 and the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 state that where a child has been looked after away from home for six months and significant progress towards a return home has not been achieved, it should be considered whether a plan for permanence away from birth parents is required (Scottish Government, 2011). On average, the decision for permanence away from home was made when the infants were aged 39 weeks old (9 months), with the youngest child being just under four weeks and the oldest aged 27 months (two and a half years). Permanence away from home was identified slightly earlier for infants where the plan was for adoption, at on average eight months, compared with 12 months for those where the plan was for a permanent placement with kinship carers.

Where a plan for adoption had been identified (40 infants), two years after first being looked after away from home under compulsory measures (CSO) an adoption order had been granted for 16 infants, with a further ten infants having a Permanence Order with Authority to Adopt (POA) granted by the court, and eight infants placed with prospective adopters on a CSO. Three infants for whom a plan for adoption had been identified were living with foster carers on a CSO, and the placement details of three infants were unknown.

Where an initial plan for permanence with kinship carers had been identified (13 infants), eight infants had a permanent placement legally secured with a kinship care order or residence order within two years of being looked after away from home. Three infants were living with kinship carers on a CSO. The plan had changed for two infants, with one living with (unrelated) foster carers on a CSO and one living with prospective adopters, having had a POA granted.

Of the two infants who had a plan for permanence with foster carers, a Permanence Order had been granted for one and the other was living with foster carers on a CSO.

For almost half (26, 45%) of infants for whom a decision for permanence away from home had been made, a legal order (adoption order, permanence order, kinship care or residence order) had already been granted to secure this, with 19 infants (33%) living with prospective adopters on either a CSO or with a POA in place. There were ten infants (17%) for whom progress towards legal permanence away from home did not appear to have been made in this period, and they were living with either kinship carers or (unrelated) foster carers on a CSO. The permanence status of three infants was unknown at the two-year point after they first became looked after away from home.

Infants were, on average, 21 months old when a legal order for permanence had been made, ranging from between ten months and 38 months old.

Overall, two years after first becoming looked after away from home on a CSO, 12 infants (17%) were living with their birth parent(s), 35 infants (50%) were living with (prospective) adoptive parents, ten (14%) were in a legally secured placement with either kinship carers or unrelated foster carers and ten (14%) were looked after away from home on a CSO. The placement type of three infants was unknown.

Two fifths of the infants (27, 39%) remained in their initial placement two years after becoming looked after away from home on a CSO, with 40 having moved placement once, and three infants having moved two or three times. The majority of the children who had moved placement were initially living with unrelated foster carers and had subsequently been reunified to parents (n=12), moved to prospective adopters (n=22) or kinship carers (n=7).

Key findings

• Two years after compulsory supervision measures were put in place, 12 of the infants (17%) were living with birth parents. Half of these placements were secured by a CSO and one with a Residence Order.
• For all of the other 58 infants, a decision for permanence away from home had been made, with adoption the most common plan (for 40 infants).
• A plan for adoption was more likely for infants who had come to the CHS via the 'CPO route' (74%) than infants on the 'Section 25 route' (58%).
• On average, the decision for permanence away from home was made when infants were nine months old.
• Two years after compulsory supervision measures were put in place
  • legal permanence had been secured for almost half of the infants (26) for whom a decision for permanence had been made.
  • a further 19 infants were living with prospective adopters on either a CSO or with a POA in place.
  • For ten infants, progress towards permanence was less clear, and they were living with kinship carers or foster carers on a CSO.
• The vast majority of infants were still living in their initial placement two years after CSOs were granted or had moved just once, mostly from an initial placement with foster carers to adoptive parents or kinship carers, or a return to birth parents.