The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the recommending of contact in special guardianship cases is currently working, by holding focus groups with social workers and special guardians.

The authors of this study use life course theory to explore the role of agency in shaping the educational pathways of 18 Irish adults (aged 24–36 years) with care experience.

The purpose of this study was to use record linkage of birth cohort and administrative data to study educational outcomes of children who are looked-after (in public care) and in need (social services involvement), and examine the role of early life factors.

In this article, the authors analyse how interventions of the State may undermine, rather than activate, the caring capabilities of vulnerable families across the life course, drawing on examples from Australia, England and the USA.

This article considers the application of Communities of Practice theory to understand transition into, through and out of care, arguing that a sense of belonging and identity emerges from participation in supportive communities. The authors consider the influence of community on looked after children and care leavers’ sense of identity, engagement and well-being in transition.

This targeted literature review seeks to explore how to disrupt the routes between care and custody for girls and women, examining the over-representation of care experienced individuals in criminal justice settings.

This article presents a case study of a 15-year-old boy whose severe difficulties were understood and formulated in terms of ‘attachment problems’ for many years.

This article summarises how genetically informed research designs can help disentangle genetic from environmental processes underlying psychopathology outcomes for children, and how this evidence can provide improved insights into the development of more effective preventive intervention targets for adoptive and foster families.

Looked after and adopted children are among the most vulnerable in our society and it is well established that they present with a higher prevalence of mental health problems than children who live with their birth family. This article presents a case study of a 15-year-old boy whose severe difficulties were understood and formulated in terms of ‘attachment problems’ for many years.

This article summarises the policy and research literature on the mental health needs and experiences of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in the UK, with the aim of suggesting how to enhance practice and improve outcomes for this vulnerable group.