Reducing Recurrent Care Proceedings: Building a Local Evidence Base in England

Pamela Cox,Vanessa Baxter,Claire Mason,Susan Mcpherson,Mary Ryan

doi:10.3390/soc10040088

Pamela Cox, Vanessa Baxter + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/soc10040088

Copy DOI

Abstract

Recent studies of public law care proceedings within the family justice system in England and Wales suggest that up to a quarter of all mothers who appear in such proceedings will reappear within a subsequent—or recurrent—set of such proceedings within seven years. In the last decade, new interdisciplinary research spanning social work, clinical psychology and sociology has defined and investigated the previously hidden challenge and social costs of ‘recurrent care proceedings’ (RCP). This article adds to this new field by analysing the core values, practice and impact of three different local services in the northwest of England working with birth parents to reduce the risk of recurrent proceedings. The article combines data gathered from the three distinct services using a common evaluation framework co-produced by the authors working with service leads, practitioners and users. It explores how all three services are seeking to reduce the risk of recurrent care proceedings in their local areas without requiring women to use long acting reversible contraception (LARC) or other forms of contraception as a condition of accessing the service. It concludes that insights gained from these and cognate services can inform an emergent community of practice in the recurrent care field.

Highlights

One in four birth mothers who have a child taken into care in England are likely to re-appear in care proceedings within seven years [1]
Women in this situation have typically experienced structural disadvantage in multiple domains including socio-economic deprivation, histories of trauma and abuse, low educational attainment and lack of access to healthcare [2,3]. Their needs—along with the wider issue of ‘recurrent care proceedings’ (RCP)—went unacknowledged in policy frameworks
From the early 2010s on, in response to increasing recognition of recurrence by practitioners and alongside a programme of research to systematically document the scale of recurrence and highlight the associated ethical and policy challenges [1,3,4,5], a number of new services were established in England seeking to reduce recurrent care proceedings at the local level

Summary

Introduction

One in four birth mothers who have a child taken into care in England are likely to re-appear in care proceedings within seven years [1] Women in this situation have typically experienced structural disadvantage in multiple domains including socio-economic deprivation, histories of trauma and abuse, low educational attainment and lack of access to healthcare [2,3]. Their needs—along with the wider issue of ‘recurrent care proceedings’ (RCP)—went unacknowledged in policy frameworks. Arising in different contexts in different places, they were typically shaped by local authority concerns to stem the number of ‘revolving door’ parents in their own areas. They were, and remain, distinct in that they have been funded and commissioned in different ways, with some nested in local authorities and others in voluntary sector

Methods

Results

Conclusion