Compulsory supervision at home: who is looking after me?

Objectives: The paper explores being ‘looked after’ within the context of compulsory supervision at home. The term ‘looked after’ refers to children for whom the state has assumed some or all of the responsibilities... [ view full abstract ]

Objectives: The paper explores being ‘looked after’ within the context of compulsory supervision at home. The term ‘looked after’ refers to children for whom the state has assumed some or all of the responsibilities typically held by parents. In Scotland, more than 15,000 children are ‘looked after’ having been placed on Compulsory Supervision Orders because of serious concerns about their wellbeing; around a quarter remain at home with their birth family.

Methods: The paper draws on recent studies conducted by CELCIS including ‘Overseen But Often Overlooked’ a mixed methods study exploring the circumstances and needs of children who are looked after at home. Further analysis of these data and recent related policy documentation considers what being looked after means in these circumstances.

Results: Strong normalising discourses consistently portray families as the preferred site for ‘looking after’ children, where ideas of ‘family’ include forms and functions for the exercise of parental responsibility to protect, nurture, educate, and control the child. The state’s role with children looked after away from home is to assume these parental responsibilities and address deficits in earlier experiences. However, when the child remains with their birth parents, the state’s role is less clear. If the state mandates compulsory measures, this would seem to predicate access to some form of support, monitoring, or intervention. However, in the context of austerity, some participants conceptualised the state’s role with these families as a low priority compared to responsibilities towards other looked after children.

Conclusions: Action is required to clarify and restate the purpose of home supervision and ensure it is used effectively to impact positively on children. Building on this research, we outline steps in the development of a national programme that will help situate effective home supervision alongside other relevant responses to children’s needs.