Social Work Interventions with Children under 5 in Scotland: Over a Quarter Referred and One in Seventeen Investigated with Wide Variations between Local Authorities

Abstract

This article uses information from freedom of information requests to find the rate of children who were subject to social work interventions in Scotland before the age of 5. It finds that more than one in every four children were referred to social work and provides the rates for other types of interventions including children investigated for child protection, becoming looked after and being adopted. Despite differences in legislation and the judicial system, the study shows many similarities in rates of intervention in Scotland to similar longitudinal studies in England. The study found wide variations between local authorities in rates of these different interventions, which for most interventions was moderately correlated with deprivation and, in the case of the high disparities in rates of referral and child protection investigation, had little correlation with deprivation. The likelihood of children’s involvement with social work varied markedly depending on where they lived.