Children in households with substance misuse, domestic violence or mental health problems: Who is at risk of entering care?
The number of children in local authority care in Wales has been increasing since the mid-1990s and there are large variations in the numbers of children in care across different Welsh local authorities. However, the reasons why are not clear. It could be associated with changing problems in society. Alternatively, it may be due to the way local authority social service departments respond to family problems.
One of CASCADE’s new research projects funded by HCRW, using linked admin data to look at entry of children into care in relation to potential household risk factors such as:
- Substance misuse
- Domestic Violence
- Mental Health
This project aims to unpick some of the reasons why the care rates vary across local authorities and why they have increased over time.
Lead researcher: Dr Nell Warner