Scotland’s Child Protection Statistics 2024-2025: Is there really no change?

Scotland’s Child Protection Statistics, the official figures collected by all 32 local authorities in Scotland, show how many children are involved in Scotland’s child protection processes. In this blog post, Dr Alex McTier, Evidence and Evaluation Specialist at CELCIS who led the development of the Minimum Dataset for Child Protection Committees, examines what the latest statistics show, advising caution in seeing an apparently static picture and encouraging us to continue improving the data collected about children’s lives.

How the Scottish Child Interview Model is improving experiences for children and young people

The Scottish Child Interview Model is a new model of practice for interviewing children who are victims or witnesses of crime, abuse, neglect or exploitation and is intended to bring about real improvements in children’s experiences that go beyond the interview itself. In this blog post, Jennifer Morrison, Social Work Project Lead on Scotland’s National Joint Investigative Interviewing Team, discusses how social workers have enhanced their knowledge and skills to use this new model in practice.

New indicators and new insights. What do the latest child protection statistics tell us?

In this blog post, Dr Alex McTier, Evidence and Evaluation Specialist at CELCIS, takes a closer look at Scotland’s Child Protection 2023-2024 Statistics to consider how trends have developed over time and what additional insights are offered from new indicators that have been collected for the first time.

What story does Scotland's latest statistics on child protection tell?

In this blog post, Dr Alex McTier, Evidence and Evaluation Specialist at CELCIS, takes a closer look at Scotland’s Child Protection 2022-2023 Statistics to consider what the statistics and statistical trends might, and might not, tell us about the needs of children in Scotland.

Navigating social workers’ use of voluntary care arrangements for families in Scotland

In this second in a series of blog posts to highlight findings from research on voluntary care arrangements in Scotland, Dr Robert Porter, Research Lead at CELCIS, and Dr Brandi Lee Lough Dennell, Research Associate at CELCIS, explore what social workers have shared about their experiences with voluntary care arrangements.

"Nobody spoke those words to me”: Parental experiences of voluntary care arrangements in Scotland

In this first of a series of blog posts to highlight findings from research on voluntary care arrangements in Scotland, Dr Robert Porter, Research Lead at CELCIS, and Dr Brandi Lee Lough Dennell, Research Associate at CELCIS, discuss what parents have shared so far about their experiences.

Data poses questions as well as answers, so what questions arise from Scotland's Child Protection 2021-2022 Statistics?

Dr Alex McTier, Evidence and Evaluation Specialist at CELCIS, takes a closer look at Scotland’s Child Protection 2021-2022 Statistics to uncover what the statistics tell us about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and longer-term trends.

More than a promise: the imperative to make change happen

Claire Burns, Director (Acting), CELCIS – Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection, marks the first anniversary of The Promise.

Listening to what families need and want is how we will all thrive

CELCIS's Claire Burns writes for Holyrood Magazine's latest special feature on Kirsty, the Holyrood Baby, who is now four years old.

Realising children’s rights to justice and care

Bairnshoose Policy and Practice Lead Anna O'Reilly reflects on how far we've come towards securing a Scottish Bairnshoose, and what must still be done to give children the rights they deserve.