CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
LOOKED AFTER?
CHILDREN AND
YOUNG PEOPLE
LOOKED AFTER?
Education, Intervention and the
Everyday Culture of Care in Wales
Edited by
Dawn Mannay, Alyson Rees
and Louise Roberts
UNIVERSITY OF WALES PRESS
2019
The Contributors, 2019
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Applications for the copyright owners written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the University of Wales Press, University Registry, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3NS.
www.uwp.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-78683-355-6
eISBN 978-1-78683-357-0
The right of the Contributors to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77, 78 and 79 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Cover photograph by Katerina Hristova/ Katka Photography.
Contents
Dawn Mannay, Alyson Rees and Louise Roberts
Martin Elliott
Gwyther Rees, Rachel Brown, Phil Smith and Rhiannon Evans
Rebecca C. Pratchett and Paul Rees
Paul Rees and Amy Munro
Gemma Allnatt
Alyson Rees
Holly Gordon
Joanne Pye and Paul Rees
Rebecca Girling
Louise Roberts
Claire Palmer
Dawn Mannay and Eleanor Staples
Phil Smith
Eleanor Staples, Louise Roberts, Jennifer Lyttleton-Smith, Sophie Hallett and CASCADE Voices
Dawn Mannay, Louisa Roberts, Eleanor Staples and Ministry of Life
Dawn Mannay, Alyson Rees and Louise Roberts
List of contributors
is a Research Development Officer with the Wales School for Social Care Research at Swansea University. She is also a Ph.D. student in the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University. Her research is exploring the perception and experiences of care leavers in higher education. She is a qualified Social Worker. Prior to commencing her doctoral studies Gemma worked in a statutory childcare team and spent a number of years working in a residential unit. This is where her interest in the educational achievement and aspirations of children in care originated. Gemma has worked on a number of research studies, including the Looked After Children and Education project Understanding the educational experiences and opinions, attainment, achievement and aspirations of looked after children in Wales.
is a Research Associate with Cardiff University School of Social Sciences, based at the DECIPHer research centre. Her research interests are in substance use and young people, with particular focus on the delivery of interventions in complex settings. Her recently completed Ph.D. explored the utilisation of alcohol by new university students and the development of organisational responses to alcohol issues. She has previously worked in both voluntary and statutory substance misuse services, supporting young people with problematic drug and alcohol issues.
is a collaboration between Voices from Care Cymru and CASCADE, Cardiff University. Care-experienced young people are trained in research methods by CASCADE researchers. The group meets every two months and provides advice and consultation on research projects from initial stages of design through to dissemination of findings. Members of the group have also acted as peer researchers and have facilitated focus groups with other care-experienced young people. Since its inception, the group has advised researchers from universities in Wales and Northern Ireland and the third sector, on a range of health and social care topics.
is a Research Development Officer with the Wales School for Social Care Research. A social worker with 17 years statutory childrens services experience, including front-line management and practice, contracting and commissioning, and strategic development work, his research interests include: children and young people in out-of-home care; children on the edge of care; social inequality and poverty; and services for disabled children and young people. He has a methodological interest in the use of routinely collected administrative data and quantitative methods.
is a Senior Lecturer in Social Science and Health at the Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer) at Cardiff University. She is an affiliated Senior Lecturer at the Childrens Social Care Research and Development (CASCADE) Centre. She is also a co-applicant on the What Works Centre for Childrens Social Care. Rhiannons substantive research interests include the mental health and well-being of children and young people, particularly the prevention of self-harm and suicide. She has a methodological interest in the development and evaluation of complex intervention, and systematic reviews.
is a social worker currently working part-time in front-line childrens services around training as part of the Great British Rowing Team. She completed her Masters in Social Work, writing a dissertation that focused on the experiences of children and young people in residential care. Prior to this she worked with young people with autism, living in a residential setting. Rebecca also has a degree in Psychology from Cardiff University.
has 12 years experience as a qualified social worker in Wales. Holly gained a professional doctorate from Keele University and her research explored the identities and perspectives of social workers with environmental interests. Her background is in childrens social work, specifically with children and young people who are looked after and care leavers. She has been a trainer-consultant with the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) Cymru and the Association for Fostering and Adoption (AFA) Cymru, delivering professional training to social care staff across Wales. Holly is currently employed by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) as a team manager for the Protect and Respect child sexual exploitation service in north Wales
is a Lecturer in Social Policy in the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University. Sophies particular focus is on children, young people and social care, and her research interests revolve around aspects related to social policy analysis, care and welfare, with a particular focus on youth and young people and exploring the relationship between policy, practice and lived experience. Her specialist interest is Child Sexual Exploitation, and she is the author of Making Sense of Child Sexual Exploitation: Exchange, abuse and young people (Policy Press, 2017).