A new report by Prof Julie Selwyn highlights ongoing challenges in educational outcomes for children in long-term foster care.
Children with a permanent long-term foster care decision are expected to remain with the same carer, but by age 16 only 51% were in the same placement.
shorturl.at/bmmax
📢 Excited to share a new report on a national evaluation exploring early insights into Pupil Premium Plus Post-16 funding.
The study provides a comprehensive picture of how this funding is being used to support young people in and leaving care across England.
Read more: shorturl.at/i4E8R
📢 Call for Evidence: Information Use in Practice
We’re inviting contributions to explore how information is used in real-world practice particularly in services supporting children and families.
Deadline: 17 April
➡️ More: shorturl.at/FdKyp
🖊️ Our latest blog reflects on a webinar led by Caroline Spaas, focusing on the concept of relational poverty. This perspective considers the critical role of relationships, trust, and social connection in shaping people’s experiences and outcomes.
Read the full blog: shorturl.at/Bth6q
As part of a short series of Coram events marking the centenary of the Adoption of Children Act (1926), Rees Centre Prof Harriet Ward will discuss the historical consequences of illegitimacy and share insights from her ongoing research into the history of adoption.
More: ➡️ shorturl.at/6dQPR
👋 Join the upcoming ITALO lunchtime webinar: Creating address‑based linkages with our speakers Robin Linacre from the Ministry of Justice and Dr Mike Edwards from Secure eResearch Platform, SeRP.
📅 25 March 2026 | 🕐 13:00–14:00 | 💻 Online & Free to Attend
🔗 Register now! shorturl.at/jkGWz
👋 We're pleased to welcome Dr Clive Diaz who joins the Centre as senior academic leader for research in fostering and education.
Clive’s research will focus on strengthening the evidence base on participation, voice and experiences of fairness in children’s social care and family justice systems.
👏Join our upcoming webinar hosted by the Children’s Information Project.
This session will explore how children’s information can be used ethically & effectively to improve decision-making in policy & practice.
The project's supported by the @nuffieldfoundation.org
➡️Register: shorturl.at/kxFtp
Our Centre senior research fellow Sarah Gorin reflects on meaningful involvement of children, young people and parents/carers in shaping ethical and effective information use, highlighting why trust, understanding and voice matter in public services.
➡️ Read her blog: shorturl.at/RPl4M
New evidence on children looked after by local authorities, including trends and effective interventions.
Great to see this briefing published with contributions from Rees Centre Prof Leon Feinstein.
Read: shorturl.at/Vbby6
Latest news very much welcomed: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Prof Judy Sebba: “It's great that the bureaucracy in approving foster carers is being reduced as long as quality of carers is maintained.”
✅ Lit review: shorturl.at/5oxg1
🌟 We’ve launched a new report from the Children’s Information Project on what ethical & effective use of children’s information looks like & how it can be improved.
Funded by the @nuffieldfoundation.org , it introduces a practical framework & 8 essential practices.
➡️Read report: shorturl.at/HBllR
Thank you Assistant Professor Caroline Spaas for presenting at today’s Rees lunchtime webinar.
If you missed her webinar on Relational Poverty Perspectives, the recording is now available to watch www.youtube.com/watch?v=heZx...
👨👦Working in child welfare, social work, or policy?
Don’t miss this free talk on relational poverty, offering new ways to think about families, services, & inequality.
📅 27 Jan, 12.30pm | In-person at Department of Education, University of Oxford & Online
Register now shorturl.at/DriGE
This year marks the centenary of the Adoption of Children Act 1926; the 1st legislation to enable the legal adoption of children in England & Wales.
Rees Centre Emeritus Prof Harriet Ward discusses its significance on BBC's Woman’s Hour with Nuala McGovern.
🎧 Listen (at 27:06): lnkd.in/eErY2sMG
🎉 A big welcome to our 2 new Senior Research Fellows; Bachar Alrouh and Sarah Gorin.
Bachar’s research explores how family justice and children’s social care shape educational pathways and life outcomes, while Sarah will work on the Children’s Information Project.
👏 A huge thank you to Emeritus Professor Julie Selwyn for presenting at our Rees lunchtime webinar on Tuesday, 'Family Routes – Growing Up in Adoptive and Special Guardianship Families'.
🔗 You can now watch Julie’s recorded session and access the slides here: shorturl.at/tOXrV
🎉 From 1 Jan 2026, Dr Ian Thompson will take up the role of interim Director of the Rees Centre.
This follows the news that Prof Leon Feinstein will transition into his new position as Director of the Department of Education.
👉 Read more: shorturl.at/1bXLp
@education.ox.ac.uk
👋 Join us next week for the Rees Centre's Lunchtime Webinar Series: Family Routes – Growing Up in Adoptive and Special Guardianship Families with Professor Julie Selwyn.
👉 Register: shorturl.at/NmNCe
👏 Congratulations to former Rees Centre researcher Dr Áine Kelly, whose Doctoral work has helped to inform the new Initial Health Assessment Delivery Standards from @corambaaf.bsky.social.
Read more: shorturl.at/vaKV7
Building on our Raised by Relatives work and co-produced with kinship carers and professionals across the children's social care sector, Kinship has launched its co-produced recommendations to promote racial equity in kinship care.
➡️ Read report: lnkd.in/eGQQHPbS
➡️ Read blog: shorturl.at/DvxFD
📢 Our new report calls for a complete rethink of how we measure success for young people leaving care.
The study highlights how current national data frameworks ignore the emotional realities of entering adulthood from care.
Read story & report: shorturl.at/CSk2f
@becomecharity.org.uk
Yesterday, we welcomed Dr Birgit Larsson, where she gave an engaging presentation on supporting adolescents in care.
Dr Larsson highlighted the need for stronger communication and collaboration between the systems involved in adolescents’ lives.
Slides & recording available: shorturl.at/pE55u
📢 Join us online tomorrow for a webinar on “Adolescents in Care – Needs, Pathways, and Engagement in Multiple and Interacting Systems" with Dr Birgit Larsson.
➡️ Register: shorturl.at/QSYee
Rees researcher Dr Priya Tah, Anam Raja (Kinship) and Emmanuel Onapa sharing stories and research on the experiences of Black and Asian kinship carers, during @corambaaf.bsky.social's Kinship Care Conference.
Photo by CoramBAAF
We are looking for care experienced parents to complete our survey to share some of their positive parenting moments. Our project aims to challenge stigma and promote positive outcomes. Please help if you can. All rts appreciated. Access the survey through the link or QR code: lnkd.in/eZ_wWUgZ
⭐ We're proud to share our new academic article, co-authored with care-experienced members of the Future of Care project design group and partners at Become, which focuses on what ’success’ means for young adults, and how this can be applied to care leavers.
▶️ Read more: bit.ly/3J1Jtv6
At the recent EuSARF Conference, researchers Priya Tah and Teresa Williams shared insights from the Raised by Relatives project as part of the Kinship Symposium on international approaches to kinship foster care.
Read more: bit.ly/4nHmjcm
A new ReesCentre report looks at how extending Virtual School Heads’ duties to children with a social worker (CWSW) has made an impact (Oct 2022–Nov 2024).
🔗 Read more: bit.ly/3IY84ke
🎉Congratulations!
Rees student Janique Charles' poster “Young Voices: Understanding the Subjective Well-Being of Children in Caribbean Transnational Families” has won the Best Student PhD Poster at #EUSARF2025
Read more shorturl.at/2iRhs