Use of linked administrative children’s social care data for research: a scoping review of existing UK studies

Allnatt, G., Elliott, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8062-6913, Scourfield, J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6218-8158, Lee, A. and Griffiths, L. J. 2022. Use of linked administrative children’s social care data for research: a scoping review of existing UK studies. British Journal of Social Work 52 (7) , bcac049. 10.1093/bjsw/bcac049

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Abstract

Increasing access to children’s social care data presents enormous potential for research and policy evaluation, with opportunities increased where data can be anonymously linked to other sources of information, such as health and education data. The purpose of this scoping review was to provide an overview of all UK data linkage studies that have used routinely collected individual-level children’s social care administrative data. Six research databases were searched and twenty-five studies were identified as meeting the inclusion criteria, with the majority (n = 18) based on English data. Complexities and the time-consuming nature of these studies are highlighted, as are issues with missing data and inconsistencies in recording information across local authorities, impacting on the linkage process. Increased access to such data, and improvements to data capture, could improve the utility of these valuable administrative data assets in the social care sector.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education) Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE)
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	0045-3102
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	16 February 2022
Date of Acceptance:	16 February 2022
Last Modified:	11 Nov 2023 17:52
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/147558

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