account arrow-down-linearrow-down-small arrow-downarrow-download arrow-left-small arrow-leftarrow-link arrow-rightarrow-upawarded books calendar close-modal closedate delete document education emailevent facebookhamburger impact instagramjustice linkedin location-outline location opinion page phonepinterestplay plusplyr-pause plyr-play post preview projectpublication reports resourcesearch-bigsearch series share star-full star-open startime twitterwelfare youtube zoom-in zoom-out

What are the experiences of parents with learning disabilities or difficulties in care proceedings?

Authors & Organisations
Mary Ryan: Nuffield Family Justice Observatory
Authors
Mary Ryan
Organisations
Nuffield Family Justice Observatory

Parents with learning disabilities or difficulties are over-represented in child protection processes and care proceedings and in experiencing the permanent removal of their children (Booth et al. 2005).

Several recent research studies have provided a timely reminder of the challenges these parents face. Their findings paint a concerning picture of the experiences of parents with learning disabilities and indicate that the family justice and social care systems are paying insufficient attention to ensuring that their rights under disability, equality and human rights legislation are upheld.

This Spotlight paper brings together the main messages from:

Babies in care proceedings: What do we know about parents with learning disabilities or difficulties? Burch et al. (2024)

Substituted parenting: What does this mean for parents with learning disabilities in the family court context? Tilbury and Tarleton (2023)

The role of adult social care for parents with learning disabilities when their children are no longer in their care. Baginsky (in press)

How do adult and learning disability social workers engage with parents with learning disabilities? Tarleton et al. (2024)

Research on the number of children in Wales placed into care from parents with learning disability and the reasons behind their removal. Burch et al. (2019)

Key messages:

  • A high proportion of care proceedings concerning babies involve parents with learning disabilities/difficulties
  • Late identification of learning disabilities/difficulties means that assessments and interventions are unlikely to be tailored to parents’ learning needs
  • Reasons for late identification of learning disabilities/difficulties include a lack of confidence and experience among social workers, time pressures and delays in obtaining specialist assessments
  • Insufficient communication, coordination and understanding across adult and children’s social care impacts negatively on ensuring appropriate support for parents with learning disabilities/difficulties
  • Advocates and intermediaries have an important role to play in enabling parents with learning disabilities/difficulties to engage fully in meetings and court proceedings
  • The term ‘substituted parenting’ is unclear and unhelpful
  • There is need for post-proceedings support for parents with learning disabilities/difficulties who lose their children through care proceedings
Resource

Newborn babies | 2025

Babies in care proceedings: What do we know about parents with learning disabilities or difficulties?

View resource
Resource

Newborn babies | 2025

Understanding care pathways and placement stability for babies in Wales

View resource
Resource

Newborn babies | 2025

Born into Care: Best practice guidelines and other resources

View resource
Resource

Newborn babies | 2025

Mothers in recurrent care proceedings: New evidence for England and Wales

View resource
Project

Newborn babies | 2025

Newborn babies and care proceedings: A collaborative project to provide professionals with evidence, advice and innovation

View project
Resource

Newborn babies | 2025

Summary: Born into Care: Developing best practice guidelines for when the state intervenes at birth

View resource
Resource

Newborn babies | 2025

Born into Care: Developing best practice guidelines for when the state intervenes at birth

View resource
Resource

Newborn babies | 2021

Health vulnerabilities of parents in care proceedings in Wales

View resource
Resource

Newborn babies | 2021

Explaining high rates of infants in care proceedings in deprived areas of Wales

View resource
Resource

Newborn babies | 2021

Newborn babies in urgent care proceedings in England and Wales

View resource
Resource

Newborn babies | 2021

Recurrent care proceedings: five key areas for reflection from the research

View resource
Resource

Newborn babies | 2021

Born into care: One thousand mothers in care proceedings in Wales, A focus on maternal mental health

View resource

Profile