25–26 June 2026: SERENA at the DARE Conference

SERENA participated in the Decisions, Assessment, Risk and Evidence in Social Work (DARE) Conference, held in Zurich, Switzerland, on 25–26 June 2026. During the conference, researchers from Swansea University presented two oral communications showcasing Work Package 8, highlighting how linked administrative data can improve understanding of the experiences and service pathways of children who have experienced maltreatment.

Contributions from SERENA partners

• Laura Cowley presented "Pathways Through Public Services for Maltreated Children in Care: A Scoping Review of Studies Using Linked Administrative Data." The presentation reviewed existing European evidence on how linked administrative data have been used to examine interactions between children in care and public services, including health, education, justice, housing, and employment systems. The review identified common patterns across countries, highlighted the long-term inequalities experienced by care-experienced children, and emphasised the importance of strengthening data linkage to better understand service pathways and support earlier interventions.

• Amrita Bandyopadhyay presented "Patterns of Service Contacts for Children Who Have Experienced Maltreatment and Are Known to Social Services: A Linked Routine Administrative Data Study in Wales, England and Denmark." This presentation introduced the first findings from the Welsh cohort, using routinely collected linked administrative data to examine healthcare utilisation before and after children's first contact with social services. Preliminary results showed that children who have experienced maltreatment make greater use of healthcare services than their matched peers and are more likely to have been born preterm and to live in areas of higher deprivation. The ongoing work will expand these analyses by incorporating education and justice data and comparing findings across Wales, England, and Denmark.

Impact and outcomes

The presentations generated valuable discussion among social work researchers and child protection professionals, providing useful feedback for the ongoing development of SERENA's linked data analyses. By sharing both a comprehensive review of the existing evidence and the first findings from the project's administrative data studies, SERENA strengthened its engagement with the international research community and reinforced its commitment to improving knowledge on service pathways for children who have experienced maltreatment.