Children and Families

The number of children in care in Wales on the rise. How can we support families to reverse this trend and to minimise negative outcomes?

The WCPP has worked for a while on understanding the rising number of children in care in Wales and effective approaches to addressing this trend. A trend that is a cause for concern because of the potential impact on the outcomes of children who are taken into care in terms of educational attainment, health, unemployment, homelessness, and criminal justice. The WCPP’s work in this area has recently shifted to a focus on prevention and early intervention. ‘At risk’ children and families will frequently interact with multiple agencies and services. Our work looks at whether and how multi-agency working in Wales could be improved to support families and reduce the risk of children being taken into care.


 

Publications

Our published research on children and families provides vital information for policymakers and researchers.
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Publications 11 March 2022
Children’s social services and care rates in Wales: A survey of the sector
Wales has seen a rise in both the number and rate of children looked after. The rate is now higher than any time since the 1980...
Publications 10 January 2022
Education recovery: Responding to the Coronavirus pandemic
Coronavirus-related school closures have resulted in significant disruption to children and young people’s learning in schools and colleges in Wales, as elsewhere. In the...
Publications 7 January 2022
Raising the age of participation in education to 18
In England, the compulsory age of participation in education or training was raised to 17 in 2013 and then 18 in 2015. In Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, the...

 

Projects

Our portfolio of projects creates knowledge and evidence around all aspects of policy affecting children and families in Wales.
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Projects
Youth Homelessness Prevention Pathways
Tackling homelessness, and reducing the risk of homelessness for young people in particular, is a priority for the Welsh Government. At the launch of the...

Explore

We have a wealth of publications and commentary covering all aspects of children in Wales.

 

Experts

Meet the Children and Families team
Dan Bristow
Director of Policy and Practice
Image of Dan Bristow
Dr Amy Lloyd
Research Associate
Image of Dr Amy Lloyd