Research focus: Children in foster care feel safe where they live

On 19th October 2023, Ofsted published results of their annual survey asking children and young people about their experiences of children’s social care.

The survey focused on:

• living in children’s homes (including secure children’s homes)
• living with foster carers
• staying at residential special schools, boarding schools and further education residential accommodation.

What was the research question?

Children and young people responded to questions focused on:

• if they felt safe where they lived or stayed
• how well they get on with the adults where they live
• how well they get on with the other children they live or stay with
• if the adults where they live: ask them about things that are important to them and listen to them
• if they spend time with people who are important to them
• if they had done something fun in the last week
• if there was anything they would like to tell us about the place where they live

Who did the research?

Ofsted - the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. They inspect services providing education and skills for learners of all ages and also inspect and regulate services that care for children and young people. Ofsted is considered to be a highly reliable and expert body and they report directly to Parliament, parents, carers and commissioners.

What research method did they use?

Ofsted conducted their annual Children’s Social Care Questionnaire through an online survey.

The strengths of using an online survey are:

• A large number of participants can be reached quickly
• The questions are standardised - this improves reliability, as it is easy to repeat this study with the same set of questions and get the same kind of data
• The data produced from closed questions can be analysed by computer software and results in large amounts of quantitative data that can be displayed using graphs and tables which are quick and easy to understand
• Because the two points above, the data can be compared over time and place, again enhancing reliability
• Open questions can also be asked - these can allow respondents to express their opinions more than closed questions, adding validity to the data

The weaknesses of using an online survey are:

• Cannot reach people without internet access
• Questions cannot be clarified if someone doesn't understand them because they are completed independently at home without a researcher present
• The 'imposition problem' - for closed questions, participants are given a range of answers to choose from but the answer they want to give may not be available
• Social desirability bias - respondents might give the answer the think the researcher wants
• All of these points may affect validity

What sampling method did they use?

6,614 children and young people participated voluntarily in the Children’s Social Care Questionnaire.

Voluntary participation is more ethical however, it can lead to a bias due to self-selection. This means that people may be motivated to take part because they have something specific they want to say, this can skew the results because it doesn't necessarily represent the opinions of those that chose not to take part.

Why is this research important?

What were the findings?

The Ofsted survey found:

• Almost all of the children in foster care (99%) who responded said they always feel safe where they live and are more likely to always feel safe compared to children in other types of care
• 95% of children living in children’s homes said they felt safe where they lived ‘always’ or ‘most of the time’
• A small number of children living in schools or colleges said they felt safe only sometimes or never
• 9 out of 10 children said they got on with the adults where they lived always or most of the time. 1 out of 10 children living in schools or colleges said they get on with the adults there only sometimes or never
• Most children get on with other children where they live always or most of the time. 3 out of 4 children in children’s homes said they got on well always or most of the time. 9 out of 10 children in foster care said they get on with children they live with always or most of the time
• Over 4 out of 5 children feel that adults ask about things that are important to them always or most of the time. 9 out of 10 children said that adults where they live listen to them always or most of the time. More children and young people who live at school or college said adults listen to them only sometimes or never
• Nearly 4 out of 5 children said they saw the people who are important to them always or most of the time. More than 4 out of 5 children who stay in special schools said they see the people who are important to them always or most of the time
• 9 out of 10 children said yes, they had done something fun in the last week. Only 1 in 10 children said no, they had not done something fun in the last week. Half of children were happy with the amount of free time they had, and half said they did not have enough free time
• Children mainly said good things about the staff where they live or stay

What can be done differently in future in light of the findings?

Ofsted will use the findings from the research, along with other information they have, such as previous inspection findings or any concerns, to decide when to inspect and what to focus on when they do. These research findings will also be used by other government agencies, for example to inform things like children's social care reform. Similarly, settings that look after and educate children will also use the findings to help them make positive changes to improve the experience for children.

Explore the topic further

• Children's Commissioner: Children's Social Care Reform
• Looked after children and children in care