This Infant Mental Health Awareness Week, we are asking: "Who’s holding the baby in Scotland’s Children’s Hearings system?"

New research is calling for fundamental changes to Scotland’s care system to better uphold the rights of babies in care.

The Best Service Trial (BeST?), led by Professor Helen Minnis, compared an infant mental health intervention with social work services in Scotland and England, to identify the best service for infants placed outwith their birth family.

The study found that authoritative and consistent oversight of a child’s journey through care was crucial in safeguarding children’s wellbeing. It also revealed that decisions about the permanent care of infants were made almost 4.5 times faster in England than in Scotland.

For babies, timely decisions about their permanent care is........

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