‘What affects the chances of children’s successful reunification from care?’

Background

The proportion of children leaving care in Wales who return to live with their family has dropped since 2002, and this may have contributed to the increasing overall numbers of children in care. Increases in the duration of time in care before reunification could also lead to increases in the number of children in care, but the extent to which this may have happened is not clear. Difficulties may arise with reunifications, which could result in children returning to care, and/or having repeated episodes of care. However, neither the circumstances in which reunification is successful nor the nature of current practice in Wales to support it are well understood.