Characteristics of Pre-Proceedings and Care Proceedings Cases in an English Local Authority, 2013–2017: An Exploratory Data Analysis

Abstract

Abstract Since reforms in 2014, care proceedings—where a local authority seeks to intervene legally to protect a child—have become shorter, with greater emphasis on ‘front-loading’ preventative and analytical work before, rather than during, proceedings. National findings on case outcomes are emerging, but in-depth local analyses are still rare. This exploratory data analysis of 937 children in 522 families in one London local authority sought to identify trends in the length, outcome and nature of pre-proceedings and proceedings cases, including outcomes six, twelve and twenty-four months after the end of these processes. Consistent with national-level findings on care proceedings, from 2013 to 2017 both the pre-proceedings and care proceedings processes became shorter, and more likely to end with the child at home. The data do not suggest that this increased ‘decisiveness’ leads to rushed decisions. Only 1.4 per cent of the children stepped-down from pre-proceedings, and 6.6 per cent of the children who remained at home after care proceedings came into care within two years of that decision. This research offers a model for similar analyses by practitioner researchers within their own local authorities.