Looked After Children JSNA

Evidence base

This section provides links and a brief summary of a robust evidence base. For example, peer-reviewd studies, systematic revies, evaluations of interventions and best practice guidelines from national sources.

Issue number 1 = highest priority
1	Source	NICE
	Title incl. web link	Looked-after children and young people Overview \| Looked-after children and young people \| Guidance \| NICE
	Summary	Key Recommendations Positive Relationships: Support stable, nurturing, trauma‑informed relationships between children, carers, and professionals. Carer Support & Training: Carers must be valued, trained in attachment, child development, and trauma impact. Safeguarding Health & Wellbeing: Promote emotional wellbeing, prevent deterioration, and ensure early access to physical and mental health services. Education & Learning Support: Ensure continuity, address gaps, and provide targeted interventions. Care Transitions: Support moves between placements and transitions to independence.
	Source	Parenting, childcare and children’s services
	Title incl. web link	Promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after-children Promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after children - GOV.UK
	Summary	Statutory DfE & DHSC guidance sets out: Duties of local authorities, NHS England, integrated care boards, GPs, dentists, nurses, teachers, and carers. Requirement to ensure access to physical and mental healthcare. Joint working frameworks to prioritise the child’s health needs.
2	Source	NICE
	Title incl. web link	Looked-after children and young people Overview \| Looked-after children and young people \| Guidance \| NICE
	Summary	NICE’s core guidance for looked‑after children emphasises that: Organisations must work together to ensure high‑quality care, stable placements, and nurturing relationships. Recommendations address supporting positive relationships, valuing carers, placement stability, transitions between care placements, and planning for permanent placements or independence.
	Source	NHS
	Title incl. web link	Looked after children and care leavers Looked after children and care leavers - NHS Safeguarding
	Summary	This guidance outlines: Placement planning must be trauma‑informed, strengths‑based, and consider contextual safeguarding. NHS bodies share statutory responsibilities alongside local authorities for supporting placements.
3	Source	NHS
	Title incl. web link	Looked after children and care leavers Looked after children and care leavers - NHS Safeguarding
	Summary	NHS Safeguarding notes that looked‑after children face: Poorer holistic health and educational outcomes than peers, which are worsened by socioeconomic disadvantage. The importance of trauma‑informed practice, considering the impact of family poverty and wider environmental risks. A requirement for local authorities and health bodies to continue support after age 18 to mitigate hardship and instability.
	Source	Parenting, childcare and children’s services
	Title incl. web link	Promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after children Promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after children - GOV.UK
	Summary	Government–NHS joint statutory guidance states that services must: Plan and provide health services that address physical, emotional, and mental health needs, which are often intensified by poverty. Ensure health assessments, specialist support, and continuity of care—critical for children under chronic stress or living in material deprivation. This guidance mandates removing barriers to health access that disproportionately affect children in poverty.