After All These Years: accessing care records

While there has been a growing body of research into the experiences of adopted people who approach agencies seeking information or contact with birth relatives, little is known about those formerly in care who access agency records. The findings here, reported by Derek Kirton, Erica Peltier and Elizabeth Webb, derive from a file analysis relating to adults previously in the care of The Children's Society who had sought access to their care records. The aim of the study was to find out more about the care careers of this group and their reasons for contacting the Society. By comparison with their adopted counterparts, those formerly in care tend to access records later in life and are more evenly balanced in terms of gender. The analysis revealed widely divergent careers in care for black and white enquirers respectively, with the former spending longer in care and being much less likely to be in contact, or reunited with their birth families. Implications for practice are then discussed, especially the need to develop post-care services which can help to meet the longer-term identity needs of adults formerly in care.