When data tells us the what but not the why

CELCIS’s Data Lead, Micky Anderson, takes a look at the latest social work statistics in Scotland for clues about what is happening in the support for children in need of care and protection and their families.

“It’s about…believing our own words”: Bringing together the voices of care experienced people

Rebekah Pierre is a care experienced writer, author, social worker, and editor of a new anthology, ‘Free Loaves on Fridays: The Care System As Told By People Who Actually Get It’, which brings together stories, essays, poems and letters by 100 care experienced children and adults. In this conversation with CELCIS, she discusses the process of developing this anthology and how she hopes the book will help shift the narrative of care experience.

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.

The future of social work in times of change

Kathryn Lindsay is the Director of Children, Families and Justice Services and Chief Social Work Officer at Angus Council. In this blog post, she discusses how social workers can use their voices and experience to drive and adapt to change and support each other.

How students are helping to shape University-led and peer support for students with care experience

Sam Upton, President of the Strathclyde Care Experienced & Estranged Students Society, shares her thoughts on the support on offer to students with care experience at the University of Strathclyde.

Don’t Pity Me! Thinking Differently about Vulnerability

Retired teacher, adoptive parent and blogger David Woodier explores the disuse of the word vulnerability and wonders if we need to look a little deeper at what this means.

Grappling with the implications of The Promise for teaching social work in Scotland

Dr Autumn Roesch-Marsh, Professor Ruth Emond and Dr Helen Whincup draw on their experiences in teaching Social Work students to consider how The Promise should be incorporated into courses to ensure that new social work practitioners are equipped with the knowledge and skills to understand and support the changes The Promise calls for.

Change is happening - but more needs to be done for children and families

For all of us involved in supporting children and families, the pandemic has shown that building back better from COVID-19 doesn’t mean returning to our previous ways of working; it means resetting them. Now, as I reflect on the last 12 months, it is clear that Scotland is on the path to making the changes and improvements that need to happen – and are already happening – for our children and families.

The cost of the implementation gap for young people

Megan Sutherland is Vice Chair of Who Cares? Scotland. She recently moved home and found it wasn’t easy to register as exempt from paying Council Tax as a care leaver. Here she discusses what she feels needs to change for care experienced young people in Scotland.