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New research centre set to improve outcomes for fostered and looked after children

14 May 2012

The University of Oxford has announced the creation of a new centre to conduct research into how to improve outcomes for foster children and looked after children (in care) so they achieve more and have more fulfilling lives. The new centre called the Oxford University Rees Centre for Research in Fostering and Education is a collaboration between Oxford’s Department of Education and the Core Assets Group. It is also financially supported by the Core Assets Group, a major provider of children’s services in the UK.

The inaugural professor and new director of the centre, Judy Sebba, is in post already having previously worked as Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange in the School of Education and Social Work at the University of Sussex. Other newly created posts will include a new senior research fellow and a doctoral studentship at the centre.

Researchers will look at the factors that influence whether or not children in care perform academically; the role played by foster carers, in particular the emotional attachments they provide for children in care; the motivation and retention of foster carers; the cost benefits of different types of care; and caring agencies’ aspirations and expectations of looked after children and foster children.

Professor Anne Edwards, Director of the Department of Education at Oxford, said: ‘The new centre builds on a depth of research in Oxford’s Department of Education on how disadvantaged children and young people are being helped to achieve. Equally importantly, the centre will draw on the strengths offered by interrelated disciplines studied across the University, particularly in the Department of Social Policy and Intervention.’

Judy Sebba, Director of the Rees Centre and Professor of Fostering and Education,, said: ‘The Centre will play a vital role in understanding and shaping foster care practice and  educational outcomes for children in care more generally.

‘We aim to bring significant relevant research to current concerns over fostering, children in care and the improvement of service provision and outcomes, both in the UK and overseas. A wide range of related research projects are based at the University of Oxford and we are confident that this partnership with Core Assets will inform future policies and practice.’

Executive Director at Core Assets Group, Estella Abraham, commented: ‘This is a hugely exciting development for the Group and reflects a commitment to invest strategically in areas affecting the fostering sector as a whole.  We are enormously proud to be part of a venture which will have both national and international importance.

’Professor Ian Sinclair, Emeritus Professor of Social Work at the University of York, will be a consultant to the centre. Much of his research work focuses on foster and residential care and movement among looked after children.

The centre will also draw on the expertise of other leading researchers including Professor Kathy Sylva, an expert in the provision of early learning and Professor Anne Edwards, an expert on different approaches to professional learning.

For more information, please contact the University of Oxford Press Office on +44 (0)1865 280134 or email press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk

Notes for Editors:

  • Department of Education at the University of Oxford
    The Department has an outstanding research profile: it was rated first equal in the UK in the 2008 RAE. There is a wide range of funded research projects based in the Department and many of these projects have had a major impact on national policy. Over 95% of research outputs were judged to be ‘international’ and over 25% (the highest percentage in the UK) were seen as being ‘world leading’. For more information, go to http://www.education.ox.ac.uk/
  • Core Assets
    Core Assets Group is a leading independent provider of children's services with headquarters based in Bromsgrove. Established 17 years ago, the international group now operates in 10 countries, delivering a range of social care services. Companies within the Group include Foster Care Associates, Core Children's Services, Outcomes UK and Fostering First International. With a growing portfolio, Core Assets provides services ranging from foster care and adoption support, educational provision, disability services, children's domiciliary care and contact services, through to consultancy, training, health and social care recruitment and resourcing. The founder-owned Group aims to 'make a positive and lasting difference to the lives of children and families'. http://www.coreassets.com
  • Professor Judy Sebba
    She is the inaugural Director of the Rees Centre for Research in Fostering and Education and Professor of Fostering and Education. From 1997-2003 Judy was Senior Adviser (Research), Standards and Effectiveness Unit Department for Education and Skills, responsible for advising ministers on the research strategy and quality of research relating to schools. She also worked on the relationship between special educational needs and the standards agenda. During this period, Judy commissioned the ‘EPPI centre’ to develop systematic reviews in education and subsequently was involved in extending this to social work and social care. Prior to being a government advisor, Judy was a Lecturer for 10 years at the University of Cambridge undertaking teaching and research on school improvement, assessment, inclusion and continuing professional development (across professions).  Drawing on a major grant from the National Curriculum Council, Judy co-authored three books and six international journal articles on the national curriculum and learning difficulties, which were the basis of Government guidance on the national curriculum for pupils with special educational needs (1992) and with colleagues from local authorities she drafted the first Ofsted handbook for training on the inspection of special needs and special schools.