Raising the bar? : evaluation of the Social pedagogy pilot programme in residential children’s homes

Background There have long been concerns over standards of care and outcomes for looked after young people living in residential children’s homes. The UK has been unusual compared with continental Europe in not using social pedagogy as a framework for social policy for children living in residential care. The DfE provided funding for a Pilot of social pedagogy from 2009-11, which may potentially be one approach to improving residential practice. Implementation of the Pilot was coordinated by the Thomas Coram Research Unit (TCRU), which was responsible for overseeing the recruitment of social pedagogues (SPs) to English residential homes and providing advice and support.