Placement stability: a review of the literature

This literature review was commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills to provide a summary of current knowledge on patterns of placement stability for children looked after by local authorities. It offers an appraisal of research that has been undertaken in England since 1989. The timeframe focuses attention on studies undertaken following the implementation of the Children Act 1989, with the exception of Child Care Now: A survey of placement patterns (Rowe et al., 1989) which has also been included on the basis that it describes movement in and out of care and within the system for a large sample of looked after children 1.