The Pursuit of Permanence: A study of the English child care system.

Parker, Roy

The Pursuit of Permanence: A study of the English child care system

Ian Sinclair, Claire Baker, Jenny Lee

and Ian Gibbs (2007) Jessica Kingsley

320 pages 29.99 [pounds sterling]

This study provides a rich source of information for those in quest of permanent placements for children in care. It achieves this in three somewhat different but related ways. First, it tells us how matters stand at the beginning of the 21st Century. Secondly, it invites us, through its findings, to check on prevailing assumptions and, lastly, it provides a source of reference for anyone seeking particular facts and figures about categories of children, types of placements and varieties of intervention. Let me take each of these three contributions in turn.

If changes in children's services, as well as the policies and practices that inform them, are to be monitored and assessed then we have to have reliable information, gathered at specific points, against which comparison can be made. Otherwise we may become unduly pessimistic about what has been accomplished or unreasonably complacent. That is why there is a need for studies like this; they offer a kind of stocktaking. Nevertheless, they have to provide an accurate and reliable picture. It is worth noting, therefore, a few details about the nature and scale of this particular contribution. Essentially, it is a census of all children looked after by 13 representative English local authorities between June 2003 and June 2004, with information being collected about them at the end of one or other of these years. This means that there was information about the full care careers at those points of 7,399 children, an impressively large number that encourages confidence in the results. But the enquiry did not stop there. Social workers completed questionnaires on 4,647 children who, at the time, had been looked after in the last six months, and on up to three placements in that period. Information was also furnished by 114 team leaders. Supervising social workers added data on 1,585 foster households. Details were collected about 315 residential units and telephone interviews were conducted with many heads of children's services. Furthermore, 95 detailed case studies were made based upon discussions with the children and others. Some of these are used in an illustrative fashion throughout the book. It is important to be aware of all this, not only in order to appreciate the magnitude and complexity of the study, but also to appreciate the daunting task it must have been to bring such a wealth of material to the point of publication. Considerable though that wealth is, it still deals with only one part of the services for vulnerable children and families; but it does provide an extensive audit of that substantial part. This is what makes it a valuable benchmark; indeed, the authors themselves tell us that the result of their labours 'is probably as broad an empirical study of the English care system as has recently been undertaken' (p 11).

The Pursuit of Permanence also allows us to check what we know or what we think we know. At first glance, the reader may conclude that the facts and figures that the book contains are unexceptional and grunt that 'we knew that already'; but confirmation is important as, of course, is refutation. Furthermore, there is the important issue of the way in which information about the children and the care system is conventionally presented and therefore interpreted. Prevailing classifications can fail to reflect new knowledge and understanding or obscure the direction in which policy and practice should be going. For example, the official need codes group asylum seekers under the 'abandoned' heading. Conscious of these kinds of simplification, the authors have tried to take the variety of children's characteristics and needs seriously without losing sight of the patterns and regularities that exist. For example, among others, one typology is suggested in order to group children in terms of what the study discovered about their chance of achieving permanence. Nonetheless, it is apparent that classifications (or groupings), whether of children, their home circumstances, their forms of care or the administrative and other arrangements adopted by different local authorities, serve a number of purposes and this has to be borne in mind in deciding which is most appropriate for which purpose; and, of course, one important purpose is to help us estimate the probability of this or that outcome and thus be guided in what we do.

The third value of this study is linked to the last contribution, namely, that it provides a source of reference for both practitioners and for those concerned with policy. That sounds a rather unexciting claim but let me explain. There is so much information here that the reviewer cannot hope to do it justice. Likewise, those who delve into the book will soon realise that its contents cannot be absorbed in one go. But they will be well advised to return to it when they have any of the questions in mind that are dealt with in one or more of the 16 chapters. For example, there is a trio of chapters towards the end that deal with 'outcomes': children and outcomes, placements and outcomes and carers, homes and outcomes. However, in consulting this report I would urge the reader not to ignore the figures. Indeed, there are 79 tables and in discussing what they show the authors often do more than provide a simple commentary. They offer possible interpretations, they point out what questions seem to be answered as well as suggesting what new questions arise; but, of course, how we take all this forward is a taxing question in its own right.

It is, in fact, the highlighting of both the variety and the similarities of children's needs, together with their experience of care, that is the particular strength of this book. In adopting that approach, the authors remind us that not only do we need to carry out a regular check of what we think we know (or don't know) but also we need to reexamine the way in which we organise that knowledge for the greatest benefit of the children.

Roy Parker is Professor Emeritus of Social Policy, University of Bristol