Title: The impact of regulation and registration on the residential childcare workforce: comparing England and Wales.
Funder: Health and Care Research Wales (Welsh Government)

Abstract: The children’s residential care workforce is often undervalued and seen as transient and low skilled, despite its work with children who have often experienced significant trauma, who are often placed in children’s homes as a ‘last resort’. The registration and regulation of such staff has the potential to have an impact not only on registrants, but also on the lives of those who use their services. However, there is a lack of research that explores whether these aspirations are realised. Devolution has also seen significant divergence between the nations of the UK in the regulatory frameworks around children’s social care. The impact of such divergence is under-researched. Aims and Objectives The aim is to explore the impact of registration of the residential childcare workforce. The objectives are: To develop a programme theory for registration and regulation of residential childcare workers, elements of which will then be explored through other strands of the study. To provide an analysis of how the registration and regulation process is experienced and understood by the residential childcare workforce and their understandings of its impact on their own practice and development; the quality of care provided; and outcomes for young people. To contribute new knowledge and generate empirical insights for understanding the impact of regulatory frameworks and shaping future developments of regulatory policy in England, Wales and elsewhere. To explore the feasibility of a potential future longitudinal research design, to research the long-term impacts of regulation on the workforce and outcomes for young people. Research Questions How do stakeholders describe and understand the underlying rationales for staff registration and the design of regulatory regimes in relation to residential childcare staff? What are the understandings and experiences of residential childcare workers in Wales of the regulatory and registration framework within which they work? What are the experiences of staff entering the residential childcare workforce and what is the impact of differing regulatory frameworks on those experiences? What research design and data would be needed to undertake an effectiveness study of the impact of staff registration on longer-term outcomes, including those of children and young people? Methods This is a multi-method evaluation, including the following work packages (WP): WP 1 development with stakeholders of a logic model of registration, elements of which will be tested in subsequent WP. WP2 an on-line survey of registered residential children’s home staff in Wales (n=circa 3000) exploring how staff registration and regulation are understood and experienced. WP3 semi-structured interviews at two time points of workers (n=50) entering the residential childcare workforce in England and Wales. WP4 feasibility study to explore to develop a study design that would allow consideration of the impact of regulation long term, including on outcomes for children and young people Timeline May 2022 to April 2024. Impact and dissemination Findings on the understandings of residential childcare workers of registration and the experiences of those entering the workforce, both those subject to registration and those currently not, should be relevant to improving policy and practice. Dissemination will be in accessible formats for providers, regulators, and practitioners, and wider stakeholders as well as via conferences and journals.

Lay abstract: Children who face serious challenges with their care and family circumstances may be placed by local authorities in children’s homes. Staff working in these homes often feel undervalued despite the work they do. It is suggested that requiring staff to register with a national body responsible for overseeing the social care workforce may benefit both staff and children in their care. However, we don’t know whether that is the case because it has not been fully researched. Currently, staff in Wales need to register but staff in England do not. We do not know whether these two approaches make a difference for staff and children. Our study will look at whether requiring staff to register may make a difference. We have four objectives: We will develop a visual map to describe how registering with a national regulator might lead to better outcomes for staff and children. This map is called a logic model. To help us do this, we will talk to young people, professionals and families with a wide range of experiences. We will ask staff how registration might affect children and young people. For staff who have already registered and work under existing regulations for children’s homes, we will explore how this process has changed the way they work and the care they provide. We will explore how the experiences of newly appointed care staff differ between a country that already requires registration (Wales) and one that does not (England). We will explore the best way to measure the impact of care worker registration upon staff and children / young people. To develop the logic model, we will look at existing research on professional registration. We will hold five meetings with groups of people with responsibility for the care of children and young people, and with young people with experience of being cared for and their family members. To explore staff experiences, we will develop a questionnaire and send it to all staff working in children’s homes in Wales and two regions of England. We expect that up to 1000 staff will complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire will explore how well the registration process is understood and, in Wales, how well the new logic model matches the experiences and expectations of staff who have been through the registration process. To understand the impact of different approaches to registration and regulation we will interview 50 care workers recently taking up jobs in children’s homes in both Wales and England. We will interview these staff soon after taking up their posts and again after 6-9 months. We will explore how early work experiences, including training and induction, prepare staff for their role. We will explore if being registered or not affects this. Our study will explore the potential for workforce registration to improve outcomes for staff and children. To formally test the effects of registration will require a future study. We will use what we have learnt in our study and interview experts in the social care workforce and research design to plan such a study. Our study will last two years. We will provide summaries of our findings in a variety of formats to make sure that it reaches a wide audience of both lay and professional people, including children and young people. We are an experienced team, and we shall be advised by young people with experience of living in children’s homes. We will ensure meaningful involvement of young people throughout this study and have budgeted for this.

Research activity codes: 8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE