This chapter will critically examine the difficulties faced by young people who are looked after by local authorities in accessing mental health services and argue, based on findings of recent Serious Case Reviews that there has never been a more dangerous time to be a looked-after child.

This paper outlines key findings from the first comprehensive study of permanence planning in Scotland.

Speaking at the launch of the care crisis review, a large-scale sector-led inquiry into the UK's care system, senior judge Sir Andrew McFarlane remarked that "it is easier to obtain a care order to take a child away from their family, than for the family to get support," according to this article from BBC News.

Recent budget cuts to early childhood and youth services will lead to an increased number of children "falling through the gaps" in care, says the children’s commissioner for England, according to this article from the Guardian.

This article from the BBC shares the findings of recent child protection inquiries, noting that the chances of a child being placed for adoption by the age of five "varies starkly by local authority."

This qualitative study examined disclosure for adult survivors of abandonment. Findings are centred around the experience of disclosure, the process of disclosure specifically exploring the role of half-truths and finally the impact of disclosure on the search for identity and self.

The objective of this study is to identify distinct patterns of care history by applying sequence analysis methods to longitudinal, administrative data.

This paper seeks to contribute to debates about how people's adult lives unfold after experiencing childhood adversity. It presents analysis from the British Chinese Adoption Study: a mixed methods follow-up study of women, now aged in their 40s and early 50s, who spent their infant lives in Hong Kong orphanages and were then adopted by families in the UK in the 1960s.

This comprehensive and authoritative book provides an accessible account of attachment concepts. It traces the pathways of secure and insecure patterns from birth to adulthood, exploring the impact of past experiences of abuse, neglect and separation on children’s behaviour in foster and adoptive families.

This study aims to confirm the proof of concept within foster carers and to explore the potential risks associated with intent to continue fostering, overall job satisfaction and psychological factors (avoidant coping) that could be targets for interventions.