Table 1
Defined categories for the integration of children’s services into Scotland’s HSCPs.
| DEFINED CATEGORY OF INTEGRATION | DESCRIPTION OF CATEGORY | NUMBER OF LOCAL AUTHORITY AREAS WITH THIS ARRANGEMENT |
|---|---|---|
| Full structural integration | Both children’s health and social care services integrated into the HSCP alongside adult’s health and social care services | 10 |
| Partial structural integration | Only children’s health services integrated into the HSCP alongside adult’s health and social care services | 9 |
| No structural integration | Neither children’s health nor social care services integrated into the HSCP alongside adult’s health and social care services | 13 |
Figure 1
Level of structural integration of children’s services within Scotland’s HSCPs during our period of study to 2021.
Table 2
Association of the level of structural integration (and other contextual factors) with changes in each indicator.
| INDICATOR | INDICATOR APPLIED TO GIRFEC SHANARRI OUTCOMES | MEASURE | YEARS AVAILABLE AT THE TIME OF ANALYSIS | P-VALUE FOR THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE LEVEL OF INTEGRATION AND CHANGES IN THE INDICATOR | CONTEXTUAL FACTORS FOUND TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGES IN THE INDICATOR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COVID–19 | DEPRIVATION | POPULATION DENSITY | |||||
| CHILD PROTECTION | |||||||
| Child protection registrations (including pre-birth) | Safe | Rate per 10,000 | 9 (2013-2021) | .939 | ↓c | ↑ | ↓ |
| Child protection de-registrations | Safe | Rate per 10,000 | 9 (2013-2021) | .454 | – | ↑ | – |
| Case conference to child protection registration conversion rate (0-15 years) | Safe | % | 9 (2013-2021) | .010 | ↓c | – | ↓ |
| Children’s Hearings arranged for children for non-offence grounds | Safe | Rate per 10,000 | 9 (2013-2021) | .257 | ↓c | ↑ | ↓ |
| YOUTH JUSTICE | |||||||
| Children referred to Children’s Reporter on offence grounds | Safe | Rate per 10,000 | 11 (2011-2021) | .279 | ↓c | – | – |
| Children and young people aged 12 to 20 proceeded against | Safe | Rate per 10,000 | 6 (2016-2021) | .063b | ↓c | ↑ | – |
| ‘LOOKED AFTER’ CHILDREN | |||||||
| Children starting to become looked after | Safe | Rate per 10,000 | 11 (2011-2021) | .461 | ↓c | ↑ | – |
| Children starting to be looked after at home as proportion of all children becoming looked after | Safe | % | 11 (2011-2021) | .852 | ↓c | – | – |
| Children ceasing to be looked after (0-15 years) | Safe | Rate per 10,000 | 12 (2010-2021) | .257 | – | ↑ | – |
| Children aged 0-15 leaving care to return home | Safe | % | 12 (2010-2021) | .257 | – | ↑ | ↓ |
| Children with 3+ placements in last 12 months | Safe | % | 12 (2010-2021) | .010 | ↓c | – | – |
| Looked after school leavers with 1+ qualifications as SCQF level 4 | Achieving | % | 11 (2011-2021) | .883 | – | ↓ | – |
| Looked after school leavers with a positive follow-up destination | Achieving | % | 11 (2011-2021) | .852 | – | ↓ | ↑ |
| School attendance for looked after children | Achieving | % | 4a (2015-2021) | .301b | – | – | – |
| EDUCATION AND EMPLOYABILITY | |||||||
| Unauthorised absence rates of primary school pupils | Achieving | % of half days | 6a (2011-2021) | .461 | ↓c | ↑ | – |
| Unauthorised absence rates of secondary school pupils | Achieving | % of half days | 6a (2011-2021) | .131 | – | ↑ | – |
| 16-19 year olds not in education, training or employment | Achieving | % | 6 (2016-2021) | .257b | ↑c | ↑ | ↑ |
| HEALTH | |||||||
| Teenage pregnancy rate, under-18 | Healthy | Rate per 10,000 | 10 (2010-2019) | .317 | – | ↑ | ↑ |
| Primary 1 children (4-6 years) overweight or obese | Healthy | % | 9 (2011-2019) | .015 | – | – | – |
| Children (0-17 years) registered with an NHS dentist | Healthy | % | 12 (2010-2021) | .126 | ↓c | – | – |
| 27-30 month old children reviewed by health visitors | Healthy | % | 8 (2014-2021) | .900b | ↓c | – | ↑ |
| 27-30 month old children with a developmental concern | Healthy | % | 8 (2014-2021) | .588b | ↑c | ↑ | – |
| HOUSING | |||||||
| Children associated with applications assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness | Nurtured | Rate per 10,000 | 11 (2011-2021) | .126 | ↓c | – | – |
| Children in temporary accommodation | Nurtured | Rate per 10,000 | 12 (2010-2021) | .852 | – | ↓ | ↑ |
| WORKFORCE | |||||||
| Whole-time equivalent rates for social workers in fieldwork services for children | N/A | Rate per 100,000 | 12 (2010-2021) | .979 | – | ↑ | – |
[i] a Data published every two years.
b Data for the indicator was only available after integration. The stated p-value represents the evidence of an association between the level of integration and performance on the indicator in the post-integration period (as opposed to changes in the indicator post-integration).
↑ c Higher values seen in the indicator during COVID-19, ↓ c Lower values seen in the indicator during COVID-19, ↑An increase in the contextual factor was associated with an increase in the value of the indicator, ↓An increase in the contextual factor was associated with a decrease in the value of the indicator, – No significant association found between the contextual factor and the indicator.
Figure 2
The conversion rate of case conferences to child protection registrations (for 0-15 year olds).
Table 3
‘Average’ (estimated marginal mean) percentage change for significant results in the period after the integration of children’s services.
| INDICATOR | NO STRUCTURAL INTEGRATION | PARTIAL STRUCTURAL INTEGRATION | FULL STRUCTURAL INTEGRATION |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case conference to child protection registration conversion rate | +3.3% | +5.8% | +1.9% |
| Looked after children with 3+ placements in last 12 months | –1.0% | –0.4% | +0.2% |
| Primary 1 children (4–6 years) who are overweight or obese | –0.2% | +0.7% | –0.6% |