A guide through the knowledge base on children in out-of-home care

Purpose - Out-of-home care has been a subject for policy debate since child welfare policies were first developed. Too often the debate is marked by ill-informed sound-bites linking "care'' with negative descriptors such as "drift'' or "languish''. The purpose of this paper is to urge a more nuanced understanding informed by the large volume of research from across jurisdictional boundaries. Design/methodology/approach - The historical, cultural and political contexts in which studies on children's out-of-home care have been conducted are reviewed, since these impact on the characteristics of the children, the aims of the care service in any particular jurisdiction, and the outcomes for those entering care. The paper also scopes the large volume of English language descriptive and process research (and the smaller number of outcome studies) on the different placement options. Findings - The outcomes of out-of-home care are different for different groups of children, and care needs to be taken not to over-simplify the evidence about processes and outcomes. The generally negative view of the potential of out-of-home care is not based on evidence. Originality/value - The authors, from their North American and UK/European perspectives, provide an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses, both of the available research and of the care services themselves.