Managing the care journey: Meeting the health care needs of children in out-of-home care

This paper looks at the issues impacting on the physical and mental health of children placed in out-of-home care and at the capacity of the care system to recognise and respond to those needs. It draws on the findings of a recent exploratory research project in Perth, commissioned by the General Practitioners’ Evaluation Programme (GPEP), in which the author participated as a researcher. The paper focuses in particular on the paucity of information about the child’s journey through the care system, reflecting on the aggregate ‘snap-shot’ focus on cohorts and ‘children as through-puts’, rather than on individualised, longitudinal profiles of placed children. A typology of care journeys is presented as a potential framework for locating and mapping children’s experiences.