Care Crisis Review: Analysis of focus group responses from care-experienced young people

The Care Crisis Review was established in response to the record numbers of children subject to care proceedings and the very high numbers of children in the care system. The Review is facilitated by Family Rights Group. It is funded by the Nuffield Foundation.
As part of the Review, a survey of care experienced young people and adults was conducted; a separate briefing details the results from that survey. In parallel, a series of focus group discussions took place in England with children and young people in, or who were formerly in, care. These were facilitated by Foster Focus, or by local authorities or voluntary organisations working with children in care.
Thank you is due to all who facilitated a focus group to inform the Care Crisis Review and importantly to those children and young people who participated in those discussions. Gratitude is also due to Karyelle Phillips from Foster Focus for helping coordinate some of the focus groups. This report has been co-authored by Cath Connor and Caroline Lynch and presents some of the key messages from the focus group discussions.
Focus group discussions were planned round a series of open questions designed to elicit participants’ insights about the following: being on the edge of care (preproceedings); care proceedings; being in the care system; the time following the conclusion of care proceedings; and about leaving care. In advance of the focus groups taking place, a short information leaflet for children and young people who may be interested in participating in the discussions was shared with local authority contacts together with consent forms.2 Briefing materials for those convening and facilitating the focus groups were also prepared and shared. Facilitators were asked to take notes of the discussion groups and in turn these were shared with the Care Crisis Review team, who analysed the material.
The precise format and approach to the facilitated discussions varied, with facilitators and young people having discretion to conduct these in a way which worked best for those participating in the group. Consequently, some took discussions took place in a more workshop format including, in some cases, as part of a wider consultation exercise being carried out. Other discussions were by way of more informal conversations. In some instances, focus group discussions were supported by short questionnaires which were completed by participants.
The data generated from the focus group discussions was analysed manually. Words, phrases, experiences and events which seemed significant were noted and commonalities as well as differences across accounts highlighted. Over time a series of themes were generated and refined into the key themes presented in this report.