Active Psychology & Behaviour Pregnancy, Children & Inherited Conditions

What impact does social care involvement under Section 17 or Section 47 have on children’s mental health and educational outcomes?

Funder Wellcome Charity-funded
Recipient organisation The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust Source-published name: Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
Funding £450K
Period Jun 2025 — May 2030

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

Every year, thousands of children in England are visited by social workers under Section 17 or Section 47 of the Children Act—but no one knows whether those visits actually help or harm them. This matters because social care involvement is assumed to be beneficial for children who remain with their families, yet the assumption has never been tested. While studies exist for children taken into care, the vast majority—those who stay at home—have been ignored. This leaves policymakers and social workers flying blind: they cannot know whether a Section 17 support plan or a Section 47 child protection investigation improves a child’s mental health or school performance, or makes things worse. The researcher will use a quasi-experimental design on a large administrative dataset to compare outcomes for children who received social care involvement with those who did not. If the research succeeds, it will provide the first evidence on whether these interventions work, for whom, and under what conditions. That could reshape how local authorities allocate resources, how social workers prioritise cases, and how children’s services are designed—potentially improving the life trajectories of vulnerable children without removing them from their homes.

View original technical description
It is often assumed that social care involvement under Sections 17 and 47 will be beneficial for children’s mental health and education. However, besides for children taken into care, no study has explored the implications of social care involvement for these outcomes. Remarkably, it remains unknown whether such interventions generally help or hinder children who remain with their families. My study therefore seeks to address a fundamental question: Does social care involvement under Section 17 or Section 47 improve mental health and educational outcomes for children not taken into care? If so, what kind of social care involvement is helpful, and for which children? Understanding whether social care involvement positively influences these outcomes is pivotal for developing targeted interventions that can address the unique needs of vulnerable children. By delving into these questions, we can inform evidence-based practices and policies that contribute to healthier trajectories for at-risk youth. I will use a quasi-experimental design in an unprecedented administrative dataset to investigate mental health and educational outcomes in children with Section 17 or Section 47 social care involvement. Findings will be disseminated through academic papers, reports, blogs, presentations, and through a policy engagement session convened by the National Children’s Bureau.

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Researchers

Guy Skinner (EPMC Awardee)

Related Research

Grants with similar aims, by meaning.

Does social work involvement with children not taken into care actually help them? A mixed-methods study leveraging linked administrative data
Support for parents and children through family breakdown and care proceedings – developing integrated, trauma-informed approaches
Longitudinal mental health trajectories of children growing up in State care in England: An exploration of patterns and influencing factors
Does local authority care make a difference to the lives of vulnerable children? Longitudinal analyses of a retrospective electronic cohort
An epidemiological study of participation in secondary schooling by children receiving social care in England

Original classification

Early-Career Award

Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.