Welcome to the June 2026 edition of the Bairns’ Hoose newsletter!
This issue will cover:
Updates from the Scottish Government Bairns’ Hoose Unit and Project Team
-
- SNP 100 Day Commitment
- Core Elements
- Knowledge Exchange Programme 2026
- Children and young people’s engagement
- Analysis
Dumfries and Galloway Bairns’ Hoose opening event
The Bairns’ Hoose Unit visits Shetland
Spotlight on Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire: Collaborative meeting
National Trauma Training Programme resources
New resource: People at heart: A guide to communicating with people affected by crime
Updates from the Scottish Government Bairns’ Hoose Unit and Project Team
SNP 100 Days Commitment
During the election campaign the SNP made a commitment to set out the next stage of investment in Bairns’ Hoose within the first 100 Days of forming a new Government. This, in conjunction with their manifesto pledge to long-term national investment in Bairns’ Hoose so that that every child who needs it can access Bairns’ Hoose within five years, demonstrates a strong commitment to supporting the continued implementation of Bairns’ Hoose across Scotland.
Core Elements
Work is underway to develop a set of Core Elements, informed by the learning that has been gathered from Bairns’ Hoose partnerships throughout the Pathfinder phase, to identify areas which are crucial to the successful implementation and operation of Bairns’ Hoose. A drafting group comprised of policy officials and subject matter experts was convened in March 2026 to lead this work.
The first round of stakeholder engagement took place in May 2026, the feedback from which will help to shape the content of the Core Elements. Wider engagement is planned throughout the summer with stakeholders, partnerships and children and young people.
Knowledge Exchange Programme 2026
Thank you to all of the presenters who participated in the Knowledge Exchange Programme over the last year. Hearing from Partnerships about the experience of building a Bairns’ Hoose, challenges as well as successes, has been very well received. We are looking forward to launching our next series of Knowledge Exchange events for 26/27, which will build on the learning and development achieved so far. Details of the sessions and how to join will be circulated shortly.
Children and Young People Engagement
The February Link Worker meeting focussed discussion on the strengthened requirement for meaningful engagement with children and young people (CYP), supported by ring-fenced funding within partnership allocations. Link Workers highlighted both the importance of this work and the need for practical support, planning, and shared learning to effectively deliver meaningful CYP engagement across partnerships.
Feedback gathered to date from CYP was noted with clear messaging that participation should be inclusive, accessible and genuinely influence decision making.
Building on the strong agreement that CYP will place a central role in shaping national products, we are currently considering next steps in how Link Workers can best support the development of Core Elements through coordinated CYP engagement. This work includes the development of a simple ‘you said, we did’ feedback loop to demonstrate how CYP views are influencing policy and design.
Analysis
Ipsos presented their key findings in a second webinar on 21 May 2026. The Bairns’ Hoose Pathfinder Phase – Research Report was published on 17 June.
Following a wide ranging programme of individual level engagement between Scottish Government analysts and partnerships/stakeholders during 2026 to discuss the Bairns’ Hoose indicators, an updated list has been shared earlier in June. Pathfinder and Affiliate partnerships have been invited to trial the indicators and help further improve them. From there, the indicators will be updated once more when the Core Elements, theory of change, outcomes framework and work on the definition of recovery have been developed in 2027.
The team has commissioned the development of a national and shared theory of change and outcomes framework for the Bairns’ Hoose programme. Starting in mid-June 2026, Ipsos, in partnership with the University of Edinburgh and the University of Bedfordshire, will be taking forward this work. Engagement with children, young people, families and professionals will ensure that the outputs are child-centred and meet everyone’s needs. The team from Ipsos will be in touch to arrange engagement activities, your input is greatly appreciated.
Dumfries and Galloway Bairns’ Hoose Opening Event
On 9 June, Dumfries and Galloway (D&G) opened the 8th Bairns’ Hoose in Scotland. The day before its first interviews, the partnership invited stakeholders to an opening event, at the Bairns’ Hoose in Dumfries.
The event started with presentations from the team on the delivery journey, as well as the data and evidence that was used to support the implementation of Bairns’ Hoose. Attendees watched a short video, hearing from a young person about the local service, and learned about the Shield of Galloway, the D&G Bairns’ Hoose logo, designed by one of the young people that helped shape the project. The logo is a great example of co-design, and a wonderful representation of the area and the partnership!
After the presentations, was a tour of the Bairns’ Hoose. Learning more about the space, hearing more about how it would be used, and how children and young people played a crucial role in its design, was inspiring. The space felt very welcoming and calm, and particular highlights of the tour were the living moss wall features and teddy bears with the logos on t-shirts!
Congratulations to all of the Dumfries and Galloway team for all of their hard work and dedication.
The Bairns’ Hoose Unit Visits Shetland
Colleagues from Scottish Government, the National Joint Investigative Interview (JII) Team, Social Work Scotland, Children First and Highland and Outer Hebrides partnerships travelled to Shetland in February 2026 for a two day learning event. The event focused on exploring how Bairns’ Hoose could be developed in one of Scotland’s most remote island communities.
The visit offered an important opportunity for partners across Shetland to consider how the national vision can be applied in a local context and how services can best work together to support children, young people and families across the islands.
The event took place at a significant moment for local practice. The Scottish Child Interview Model (SCIM) has recently become live in Shetland supporting the milestone of the model being introduced in every area of Scotland. The event enabled local partners to reflect on this achievement and consider how the delivery of the new model of practice can support work towards a holistic Bairns’ Hoose approach which brings together child protection, justice, health, and recovery in a child-centred response that ensures children who have experienced or witnessed harm receive coordinated and trauma informed support.
Across the two day programme, partners explored the national vision and discussed how local work can be grounded in the principles and Standards that underpin Bairns’ Hoose. Children First shared their experience of building partnerships that support advocacy, participation and recovery. Highland Affiliate colleagues spoke about their work implementing the SCIM within Bairns’ Hoose and shared learning on collaboration and the use of a hub and spoke model to support access for children in rural and remote communities.
This visit marks an important moment for local partners in the final year of the Pathfinder phase as they continue to work towards future implementation. The insights gained in Shetland will continue to support national and local development and contribute to Scotland’s wider aim of ensuring that every child can access protection, justice, support and recovery, no matter where they live.
Spotlight on Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire: collaborative meeting
The Argyll and Bute Bairns’ Hoose team share reflections on their most recent collaborative meeting with West Dunbartonshire.
To promote the working relationships in our new partnership with West Dunbartonshire Council, a joint team-building day was organised, bringing together colleagues from Social Work, Police Scotland, and our third sector partners, Includem. The event was held within our Bairns’ Hoose.
The primary aim of the day was to facilitate introductions and strengthen relationships across the partnership. Given the geographical spread of interviewers and managers across Argyll, many participants had not previously had the opportunity to meet colleagues from West Dunbartonshire.
The day commenced with a shared lunch, allowing for initial introductions and discussion. Participants then divided into three groups to undertake a self-assessment exercise, reviewing a selection of the Bairns’ Hoose Standards and scoring our current practice against them. This activity supported meaningful discussion, encouraged collaborative reflection on our current progress, and helped identify areas for improvement. It also contributed to strengthening professional relationships across agencies.
At the conclusion of the session, it was agreed that we would retain a record of our scores and carry out this exercise again in six months to review progress. This will enable us to measure development within our Bairns’ Hoose journey, as well as identify and address any remaining gaps.
National Trauma Training Programme resources
The Scottish Government cannot comment upon or endorse any private training provider.
With regards to the commissioning of external trauma training services, the work of the National Trauma Transformation Programme (NTTP) ensures there is a national approach to the development of trauma responsive services across Scotland by providing a wide range of resources to organisations and partnerships leading on this work. More information can be found on their website.
We advise that any local authority or organisation considering the commissioning of training or wider trauma informed system change refer to the Scottish Psychological Trauma Training Plan (see page 28 onwards). This guidance sets out key factors to consider when selecting inhouse or external training and should be used alongside the Transforming Psychological Trauma: Knowledge and Skills Framework to ensure training aligns with national standards. Commissioners should also be assured that any training is grounded in recognised competency frameworks, the evidence base, and national best practice guidelines. Commissioned training should also consider what support is required beyond training events, to embed the learning into practice change and whether this will be provided by the training service or accessible elsewhere. The Roadmap for Creating Trauma Informed and Responsive Change is also a valuable guidance for systems change and should be referred to.
Training providers should be able to clearly evidence how their course content maps over to the competencies required at each practice level. Within a Bairns’ Hoose partnership, most roles are likely to require trauma enhanced level training, with some business support roles aligned to the skilled level. Enhanced level training is typically delivered by trauma specialists.
For local implementation support, each Health Board hosts a Transforming Psychological Trauma Implementation Coordinator, funded by the Scottish Government, who can offer advice on training and wider trauma informed practice development.
New resource: People at heart: A guide to communicating with people affected by crime
On 12 March 2026 the Scottish Government published People at Heart: A guide to communicating with people affected by crime developed as part of the Victims’ Taskforce. This guide is aimed at individuals, third sector organisations and non-justice organisations that write to or for people who have been affected by crime. Links to two versions of the guidance can be found below.