Child Social-Care Recording and the Information Rights of Care-Experienced People: A Recordkeeping Perspective

Andrew Flinn,Victoria Hoyle,Elizabeth Shepherd,Elizabeth Lomas

doi:10.1093/social/bcy115

Abstract

Child Social-Care Recording and the Information Rights of Care-Experienced People: A Recordkeeping Perspective

Highlights

The creation and maintenance of case records have been integral to social work with children, young people and families in England since the late nineteenth century
Three social workers and two information professionals from a London Borough Council were interviewed about recording and recordkeeping practices, while four care-leavers participated in a focus-group session on their experiences as the subjects of these practices
Looked after children and care-leavers currently have the same right as any data subject to access information about themselves under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the 2018 Data Protection Act (DPA)

Summary

Introduction

The creation and maintenance of case records have been integral to social work with children, young people and families in England since the late nineteenth century. Research and action on social-care records to date have focused predominantly on access and the rights of adult care-leavers to discover information about their childhoods retrospectively (Murray et al, 2008; Kirton et al, 2011; Goddard et al, 2013).

Results

Conclusion