Here you can find everything associated with our Staying Connected research. It is our hope that this research will help raise awareness of the key issues found and help key stakeholders recognise the importance of sibling relationships and their role in supporting these.

Staying Connected Project: Care-experienced children and young people with a sibling in prison or secure accommodation

This research explores the topic of care-experienced siblings separated by imprisonment or secure care. An estimated 70% of care-experienced children and young people in Scotland experience separation from their siblings, and this report found that a disproportionate number of care-experienced children and young people had a sibling held in prison or secure care. Sibling separation through care and custody is often overlooked and more needs to be done to ensure sibling relationships are properly supported. Read the full report to learn more.

Staying Connected Project: In Brief

Our “In Brief” document covers the key points of the “Staying Connected: Care Experienced Children and Young People with a Sibling in Prison or Secure Care” report. This document gives you an overview of the research conducted, the key findings and the recommendations.

Staying Connected: Child Friendly Report

Our Child Friendly version of the Staying Connected report captures the key pieces of information from the report, presenting them in a format that is engaging, and easy to navigate and understand. It is our hope that children and young people can use this resource to better understand their rights to keep in touch with their siblings, even where one is in prison or secure care.

Social Work Guide: Supporting Children and Young People

This online resource provides guidance to social workers, in checklist form, on how best to support care-experienced children and young people with a sibling in prison or secure care. It includes an insight into prison processes, some of the experiences of care-experienced siblings and more, with links to further information.

Knowing Your Rights to Sibling Contact

This resource for care-experienced children and young people with a sibling in prison or secure care provides support for knowing their rights around how to keep in touch with their siblings in the secure environment and how to access these rights.

Knowing Your Rights: Prison

This resource for young people in prison, or a Young Offenders’ Institute, provides support for knowing their rights around how to keep in touch with their siblings on the outside and how to access these rights.

Knowing Your Rights: Secure Care

This resource for young people in secure care provides support for knowing their rights around how to keep in touch with their siblings on the outside and how to access these rights.

The Promise Poster

This resource follows the progress of the Staying Connected project, from the initial stages to the research processes to the findings, to give an overview of the project – and why and how it came to be.

Staying Connected Project: Sibling Definitions Video

The answer to the question ‘What is a sibling?’ isn’t always simple. This short video talks through the definition of ‘sibling-like’ relationships.

Staying Connected Project: Sibling Voices Video

In this video, consultants involved with the Staying Connected research talk about their lived experience of trying to maintain relationships with a sibling in secure care or prison.

Staying Connected Project: Care-experienced Definitions

This short video talks through the many definitions of what ‘care-experienced’ can look to different people.

Staying Connected Project: The 5 I's

Our 5 I’s set out our recommendations for how adults involved in a child or young person’s care should support them to maintain and rebuild their sibling relationships. It is important to not only follow this process, but to keep checking in with children and young people on their decisions around this and give them the space to change their minds.