Continuity and Discontinuity in Relationships for Looked After Children

Background and Purpose: Although relationships are a key component of well-being, particularly for children in out-of-home care, these children are often left quite isolated and with few long-lasting connections to rely on for support. This paper examines the potential to re-establish relationships for children in care and identifies junctures along children’s care histories where relationships were initially lost.

Methods: The study draws on 40 semi-structured interviews with children in care and professionals in children’s services and on 14 focus groups with social workers and foster carers. These were conducted as a part of a comprehensive English evaluation of the Lifelong Links programme, which aims to build support networks for children in care.

Findings: Children identified a wide range of people important to them whom they were able reconnect with, that extended far beyond the nuclear family. In many instances, social services did not adequately explore options to reconnect with birth families; restrictions of contact with family members that were introduced when children first entered care were not reviewed over time; possibilities to sustain or re-establish connections with former professionals were largely overlooked.

Implications: The findings highlight the need for social network informed practices in social work with children in care.