Inequalities in child protection: what have we learnt, what next?

The Nuffield Foundation funded Child Welfare Inequalities Project has established that there are profound inequalities in children's chances of becoming looked after or being placed on a child protection plan.

Speaker: Professor Paul Bywaters (Professor of Social Work, University of Huddersfield) 

These inequalities reflect their family circumstances and identities and patterns of service provision. Issues that are core business for families are often not at the centre of children's services responses. As that project moves to a conclusion, this seminar will take stock of the key messages from the work, and consider the implications for research, policy and practice.

Attendance is free, but online registration is required.

Biography

Professor Bywaters has been a social work academic for over 30 years and before that was a practicing social worker in Birmingham in the 1970s. Recently he has developed the study of child welfare inequalities in the UK and internationally. He has led a series of research projects funded by the Nuffield Foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation which have examined inequalities in parents' and children's chances of involvement with children's social work services, their experiences of those services and the resultant outcomes. He has conducted studies comparing the four UK countries and local authorities within each of those countries. This has led to further work on local authority expenditure, inspection regimes, social work practice and parents' perceptions of services.