Understanding What Matters: Developing effective participatory methods from the research into what matters to children living in kinship care.
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sussex
Department Name: Sch of Education and Social Work
Abstract
Kinship care is the caring arrangement in the family constellation for children who cannot remain with birth parents. My PhD research was the first to solely focus on the views of children living in kinship care in England and the first to combine critical realism with dialogical participation. It evidenced children's views as vital for research, policy, and practice - particularly for kinship care, where family lives involve multiple, multifaceted, ambivalent relationships. Child participation must take a relational, dialogical, and multidisciplinary approach. Through international sharing of expertise across disciplines, the Fellowship will develop new insights for the effective inclusion of child voice(s) in kinship care and other child welfare contexts.
My research and knowledge exchange activities to date have informed academic, policy, practice, and public debate, but have also highlighted three persistent concerns:
- The value of creating space for children to talk about family is insufficiently realised in policy and practice, especially in child welfare contexts shaped by anxieties around vulnerability.
- Child welfare debates about risk and care still lack nuance, and policy and practice must better align to the lived realities of childhood.
- The complexities of childhood are obscured by monological, either/or, thinking.
Through interconnected work strands, my Fellowship will address these concerns by:
Promoting the value of child voice
Collaborating with the British Association of Social Work, I will devise written and video kinship care practice guidance - coproduced by children, and also continue to promote the value of children's views through podcasts, briefings for policymakers, press releases, and practitioner forums.
My thesis will be reshaped into a Policy Press book reaffirming the importance of attending to children's insights given international interest in kinship care and likely reforms to UK policy and practice. The book ensures the legacy and accessibility of the PhD - and other related research - for a wide audience, including practitioners and families.
Two further journal publications will link learning from the PhD and other Fellowship activities. They will explore intersections between childhood studies and social work to enhance child participation in research, policy, and practice.
A research visit to NOVA (OsloMet) and UiT in Norway will connect me with research leaders in innovative methods of child participation and kinship care. Through workshops, presentations, roundtable discussions, and one-to-one meetings, we will share learning across national and disciplinary boundaries and explore potential further collaborations. These activities will enhance my research capabilities and illuminate the critical intersection of research, policy, and practice across contexts.
Promoting nuanced debate on risk and (kinship) care
Increasing my publication record and other outputs whilst gaining international interdisciplinary perspectives on child participation provides a robust foundation for more nuanced conversations about risk by ensuring children's insights - including on the importance of safety - are the starting point. This work will also be driven by interdisciplinary guidance from my mentors. Psychologist Prof Boddy applies a critical family studies lens in her child welfare research and brings expertise in child participation. Prof Gupta is an internationally renowned expert in critical social work.
Challenging monological thinking
The publications, study visit, mentors, and collaborative dissemination activities will continue to build on the PhD's theoretical on the value of dialogical critical realist approaches and further the interrogation of their effectiveness. The learning will also allow the transfer of new thinking for child participation and kinship care policy and practice to research, policy and practice concerned with other family arrangments.
My research and knowledge exchange activities to date have informed academic, policy, practice, and public debate, but have also highlighted three persistent concerns:
- The value of creating space for children to talk about family is insufficiently realised in policy and practice, especially in child welfare contexts shaped by anxieties around vulnerability.
- Child welfare debates about risk and care still lack nuance, and policy and practice must better align to the lived realities of childhood.
- The complexities of childhood are obscured by monological, either/or, thinking.
Through interconnected work strands, my Fellowship will address these concerns by:
Promoting the value of child voice
Collaborating with the British Association of Social Work, I will devise written and video kinship care practice guidance - coproduced by children, and also continue to promote the value of children's views through podcasts, briefings for policymakers, press releases, and practitioner forums.
My thesis will be reshaped into a Policy Press book reaffirming the importance of attending to children's insights given international interest in kinship care and likely reforms to UK policy and practice. The book ensures the legacy and accessibility of the PhD - and other related research - for a wide audience, including practitioners and families.
Two further journal publications will link learning from the PhD and other Fellowship activities. They will explore intersections between childhood studies and social work to enhance child participation in research, policy, and practice.
A research visit to NOVA (OsloMet) and UiT in Norway will connect me with research leaders in innovative methods of child participation and kinship care. Through workshops, presentations, roundtable discussions, and one-to-one meetings, we will share learning across national and disciplinary boundaries and explore potential further collaborations. These activities will enhance my research capabilities and illuminate the critical intersection of research, policy, and practice across contexts.
Promoting nuanced debate on risk and (kinship) care
Increasing my publication record and other outputs whilst gaining international interdisciplinary perspectives on child participation provides a robust foundation for more nuanced conversations about risk by ensuring children's insights - including on the importance of safety - are the starting point. This work will also be driven by interdisciplinary guidance from my mentors. Psychologist Prof Boddy applies a critical family studies lens in her child welfare research and brings expertise in child participation. Prof Gupta is an internationally renowned expert in critical social work.
Challenging monological thinking
The publications, study visit, mentors, and collaborative dissemination activities will continue to build on the PhD's theoretical on the value of dialogical critical realist approaches and further the interrogation of their effectiveness. The learning will also allow the transfer of new thinking for child participation and kinship care policy and practice to research, policy and practice concerned with other family arrangments.
Publications
Daniel Shuttleworth P
(2023)
What matters for child participation - The role of valuation-based dialogical participation for children living in kinship care in England
in Children and Youth Services Review
Paul Shuttleworth
(2023)
Reigniting Sociology for Social Work through Child Participation
Paul Shuttleworth
(2023)
'What Matters?' - Invited Keynote
Shuttleworth P
(2023)
Recognition of Family Life by Children Living in Kinship Care Arrangements in England
in The British Journal of Social Work
Shuttleworth P
(2023)
The Future of Children's Care - Critical Perspectives on Children's Services Reform
Shuttleworth P
(2023)
Reinventing the Family in Uncertain Times - Education, Policy and Social Justice
| Description | Whilst the award was primarily to consolidate my PhD findings, produce further publications, undertake engagement activities, and ensure impact, the following findings emerged: • Worldwide, there are considerable disparities in available support for families living in kinship care who experience social inequality. Correlations between poverty, child abuse, neglect, social work involvement, disability, socioeconomic status, health, and ethnicity compound the disparities. Despite this, and the new UK strategy to grow kinship care the imminent concern is that without a robust evidence base, expanding kinship care may further perpetuate social inequality. This had led to an application for a further research grant with Prof Hood, who specialises in social work and inequality. • The value of creating space for children to talk about family life remains insufficiently realised, especially in child welfare contexts shaped by professionals' anxieties around children's vulnerabilities and (in)capabilities. I engaged with academics across disciplines, and many were able to share their methods of coproduction which are now added to my toolkit for methods to encourage child participation. I was also able to share and update my particular 'What Matters' methodology. However, I have noted that social work skills and ethics, are invaluable contributions to undertaking child co-production research, particularly when other disciplines are apprehensive to undertake the role. This demonstrates the valuable role of social work theory for child co-production in leading and reshaping research, policy, and practice. It demonstrates the uniqueness of my research capabilities, particularly when policy needs distraction from positivistic 'What Works' principles. • Current UK policy documents claim better outcomes for children in kinship care than fostering, adoption, or residential care. However, these assertions rely on contested evidence with little regard for exploring the impact of social inequality or the outcomes that matter to the families. This needs to be further challenged through the international research networks I have built up, and through further research. |
| Exploitation Route | The project contributes to developing world-leading innovative critical realist methodological knowledge for child co-production. The project also develops and refines the explanatory framework for the experiences and outcomes of children in kinship care, and how they actively mobilise their family life. It also adds to international research in cognate areas such as child welfare, family studies, childhood studies, and child rights. Lastly, the project demonstrated that multiple engagement activities can ensure accessibility and change not only on a national level, but also on a local and personal level in terms of practice and family and children feeling heard. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy |
| Description | My research and engagement activities have advised policymakers and the future direction of kinship care in the UK. I have been invited to attend Across Party Parliamentary Groups and present Keynotes on kinship care at NGO and Local Authority conferences. Children's views from my research will be included in the new national assessment proforma for prospective kinship carers (Coram BAAF, forthcoming 2024) and is inlcuded in England's new kinship care strategy (DfE, 2023). The findings have been useful for discussion as part of the Coram BAAF National Kinship Care Advisory Group for DfE policy. The award allowed me to consolidate my findings in order to produce a draft for my Policy Press commissioned book on kinship care and listening to children, of which I am the sole author, scheduled for launch in April 2025. This is the first practice-focussed book, with conceptual explanations of kinship care and 'practical tips' to promote child communication. I have also managed to produce a practitioner guide (written and video) which is currently being edited for launch late 2024. Critical realist research, frequently criticised for being a methodology seeking a method, has benefited from the consolidation of methodological innovations. It was requested that I highlight the approach in the high-ranking journal Child and Youth Services Review, the online SW2020-21 journal, co-facilitate an international participation module, Connecting Citizens to Science, and write a chapter for the Elgar International Handbook on Social Work research (forthcoming, 2025). |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |
| Description | Inclusion in first UK Kinship Care Strategy |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| URL | https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6579c7f40467eb001355f755/Championing_kinship_care_the... |
| Description | Invited to be member of CoramBAAF Kinship Care Advisory Committee |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | Coram BAAF advise the Department for Education (e.g. for the Kinship Care Strategy). They also scrutinise policy developments. E.g. for the kinship care strategy: https://corambaaf.org.uk/updates/kinship-care-matters-national-kinship-care-strategy |
| URL | https://corambaaf.org.uk/networking/advisory-committees/kinship-care-advisory-committee |
| Description | Panel Expert for Coram BAAF presentation: National Kinship Care Strategy: Implications for social workers and local authorities |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| URL | https://corambaaf.org.uk/events/national-kinship-care-strategy-implications-social-workers-and-local... |
| Description | Presenting what matters approach to listening to children living in kinship care - CoramBAAF |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Feedback from the delegates stated that they would change their practice and ensure they listen to children first and foremost. Service providers spoke about placing the views of children at the beginning of forms of assessment rather than at the end. |
| URL | https://corambaaf.org.uk/events/learning-research-what-matters-children-living-kinship-care |
| Description | ESRC PDF Pump Priming Grant |
| Amount | £4,886 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | SA_PDF/01/2023 |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2023 |
| End | 09/2023 |
| Description | British Association of Social Work |
| Organisation | British Association of Social Work |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Learned Society |
| PI Contribution | Provided a practice guide, centred on the views of children, for social work practitioners. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Help to review, edit, publish, and publicise the practice guide. |
| Impact | Stop, Listen, Do - What children living in kinship care want social workers to know. (forthcoming, 2024) |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | CoramBAAF family and Friends development day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Part of expert Panel for Family and Friends Development Day. Ensured that the voices of the child were considered in new directions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Interview for 'Adoption and Fostering Podcast' regarding book chapter 'Kinship Care for England and Wales in the 2020s: Assumptions, Challenges, and Opportunities' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In this episode we chat to Social Work Academic Dr Paul Shuttleworth* all things Kinship and the Care Review as per his chapter in the new book 'The Future of Children's Care' which is available here. It's a fantastic chat about the presumptions that are in place around kinship, the evidence base for kinship and the Care Review's take on it. We also unpack bigger issues around the Review and what its impact may be. For all it's a series issue it's a lighthearted chat and Dr Paul is a wonderful guest with fantastic insight across the issues discussed. This sparked critical debate for policymakers, practitioners, and the families about using kinship care as a low-cost panacea to children going into state care. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://adoptionandfostering.podbean.com/e/episode-170-dissent-dissent-dissent-with-dr-paul-shuttlew... |
| Description | Interview for Podcast 'Do Do Social Work' regarding book chapter 'Kinship Care for England and Wales in the 2020s: Assumptions, Challenges, and Opportunities' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This is my own podcast co-hosted with practitioner Sarah Flagg where we discussed the book chapter written by Paul. The chapter focusses on the shaky assumptions that are often made with Kinship Care placements. Feedback from the episode on our email account praised its frank conversation about the pitfalls of using kinship care as a pancea. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-s3sbs-140383b |
| Description | Interview for Podcast 'Future of Children's Care' regarding book chapter 'Kinship Care for England and Wales in the 2020s: Assumptions, Challenges, and Opportunities' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In this episode we chat to Social Work Academic Dr Paul Shuttleworth* all things Kinship and the Care Review as per his chapter in the new book 'The Future of Children's Care' which is available here. It's a fantastic chat about the presumptions that are in place around kinship, the evidence base for kinship and the Care Review's take on it. We also unpack bigger issues around the Review and what its impact may be. For all it's a series issue it's a lighthearted chat and Dr Paul is a wonderful guest with fantastic insight across the issues discussed. This sparked critical debate for policymakers, pracitioners and the families about using kinship care as a low-cost panacea to children going into state care. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://soundcloud.com/future-of-childrens-care/focc-podcast-ep-2-paul-shuttleworth-1 |
| Description | Interview with Editor of British Journal of Social Work |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Vlog interview with editor from British Journal of Social Work for the British Association of Social Work. Interview with Dr Paul Daniel Shuttleworth, author of the Editor's Choice paper for the 53(1) Issue of the British Journal of Social Work, titled 'Recognition of Family Life by Children living in kinship care arrangements in England.' This article focuses on how children's views, understood through theories of recognition, can assist understanding their lived experiences in kinship care. In the interview, Paul talks about the motivation for the study, stemming from his social work practice and conducted during his PhD, explains the study methodology and methods, focused on children's views and experiences, as well as highlighting the implications of the study findings for social work practice. Interview is conducted by Dr Reima Ana Maglajlic, Co-Editor of the British Journal of Social Work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuDMzYzwIPs |
| Description | NCRM International Training Course on participation methods with Kim Ozano |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Part of a wider module on participatory methods for practitioners, policymakers, third sector and researchers. In the morning, I spoke about the 'What Matters' methodology for listening to children. With the other facilitator we then discussed various methods of participation in the afternoon. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.thesclagency.co.uk/ |
| Description | National presentation at NIHR on 'Kinship care & listening to children's voices: finding out what matters' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Paul Suttleworth will be discussing why children's views are worthy of inclusion in research and shaping policy and practice. The seminar champions a new 'what matters' approach where theories, policies and practices around kinship care emerge from the starting point of children's perspectives. The seminar explores how children's views can add new insights and reinvigorate current kinship care and child permanence debates. It demonstrates and celebrates the value of listening to children about their family lives. The seminar will address themes of critical realism, kinship care, family, a sense of permanence, maintaining connections, recognition, relationship-based practice, and participation. It will show the importance of creating a dialogical space and outing the inner conversations of ambivalences, in-between spaces, and reflexivity. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kinship-care-listening-to-childrens-voices-finding-out-what-matters-tic... |
| Description | Organising Committee for European Scientific Association on Residential & Family Care for Children and Adolescents conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | As part of the organising committee, I reviewed papers, organised the opening ceremony, chaired symposiums, and helped ensure the dya-to-day smooth running of the conference. The European Scientific Association on Residential and Family Care for Children and Adolescents (EuSARF) 2023 Conference is not just a gathering of scholars and researchers but a platform for sharing groundbreaking insights and knowledge. Experiences of risk and trauma within and beyond the family often intersect with stigma, discrimination, and social inequalities. The risk of disadvantage may be exacerbated by discrimination linked to poverty, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, as well as the stigma of child welfare intervention itself. EuSARF 2023 addressed these critical themes through discussions across countries, reflecting together on the role of child welfare services in challenging inequity and enabling social justice for people whose life chances may be jeopardized by risks within and beyond the family. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://eusarf.org/ |
| Description | Speaking to children living in kinship care about which findings matter the most |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Patients, carers and/or patient groups |
| Results and Impact | Spoke with children at Kinship Carers Group in Liverpool. They helped to decided which findings from previous research attuned with them the most, and which is the most sognificant to include the in wrtieen and video practice guides. They helped ensure child-coproduction for the guides. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | University Guest Lecture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 24 Pupils attended a guest lecture on child participation methods for practitioners (listening to the child), and an update on current kinship care policy and practice. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | What Matters child participation for social workers in Surrey LA |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop with social work practitioners at Surrey Local Authority, to change local policy and practice around listening to children living in kinship care using 'What Matters' methods |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |