'I'm not a children and families social worker'. Three mothers' experiences of their children being accommodated under s.25 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995

This qualitative research study used semi-structured interviews to question three mothers about their experience of the use of s.25 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to place their children in care. S.25 is Scotland's non-statutory approach to accommodating children. National and internationa...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dawn Simpson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: CELCIS 2022-04-01
Series:Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850176860185427968
author Dawn Simpson
author_facet Dawn Simpson
author_sort Dawn Simpson
collection DOAJ
description This qualitative research study used semi-structured interviews to question three mothers about their experience of the use of s.25 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to place their children in care. S.25 is Scotland's non-statutory approach to accommodating children. National and international research has highlighted that the most common entry into care is without a statutory order. Whilst this is often referred to as voluntary care, research in England and other countries has highlighted that parents have not experienced this process as truly voluntary. This was reflected within the findings of the research. Participants' interviews were emotionally charged and give profound insights into the difficulties of such circumstances that would be valuable for professionals involved to consider. The research highlights the value of a rights-based approach when working in partnership with parents, promoting the use of advocacy and legal support, assessing parents' capacity to understand s.25, providing written and spoken support, and viewing s.25 as an ongoing discussion, not a single event.
format Article
id doaj-art-a4b3951fb9ec4e9d99f98b268a67392f
institution OA Journals
issn 2976-9353
language English
publishDate 2022-04-01
publisher CELCIS
record_format Article
series Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care
spelling doaj-art-a4b3951fb9ec4e9d99f98b268a67392f2025-08-20T02:19:11ZengCELCISScottish Journal of Residential Child Care2976-93532022-04-012119211810.17868/strath.00084134'I'm not a children and families social worker'. Three mothers' experiences of their children being accommodated under s.25 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995Dawn SimpsonThis qualitative research study used semi-structured interviews to question three mothers about their experience of the use of s.25 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to place their children in care. S.25 is Scotland's non-statutory approach to accommodating children. National and international research has highlighted that the most common entry into care is without a statutory order. Whilst this is often referred to as voluntary care, research in England and other countries has highlighted that parents have not experienced this process as truly voluntary. This was reflected within the findings of the research. Participants' interviews were emotionally charged and give profound insights into the difficulties of such circumstances that would be valuable for professionals involved to consider. The research highlights the value of a rights-based approach when working in partnership with parents, promoting the use of advocacy and legal support, assessing parents' capacity to understand s.25, providing written and spoken support, and viewing s.25 as an ongoing discussion, not a single event. non-statutory carevoluntary careparental rightsadvocacyscotland
spellingShingle Dawn Simpson
'I'm not a children and families social worker'. Three mothers' experiences of their children being accommodated under s.25 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995
Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care
non-statutory care
voluntary care
parental rights
advocacy
scotland
title 'I'm not a children and families social worker'. Three mothers' experiences of their children being accommodated under s.25 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995
title_full 'I'm not a children and families social worker'. Three mothers' experiences of their children being accommodated under s.25 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995
title_fullStr 'I'm not a children and families social worker'. Three mothers' experiences of their children being accommodated under s.25 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995
title_full_unstemmed 'I'm not a children and families social worker'. Three mothers' experiences of their children being accommodated under s.25 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995
title_short 'I'm not a children and families social worker'. Three mothers' experiences of their children being accommodated under s.25 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995
title_sort i m not a children and families social worker three mothers experiences of their children being accommodated under s 25 of the children scotland act 1995
topic non-statutory care
voluntary care
parental rights
advocacy
scotland
work_keys_str_mv AT dawnsimpson imnotachildrenandfamiliessocialworkerthreemothersexperiencesoftheirchildrenbeingaccommodatedunders25ofthechildrenscotlandact1995