When we talk about Bairns’ Hoose, the conversation often centres on the building — the child-friendly space, the interview rooms, the court suite. But what our evaluation is increasingly telling us is that the building is only part of the story. What matters most to children and families is the human connection within it.
What recovery looks like in practice
The Children 1st recovery team in North Strathclyde has been developed over more than three years, including the period before the Bairns’ Hoose building opened. The model is distinctive in two important ways.
First, it’s relationally driven. Recovery workers build sustained, consistent relationships with children and families — not time-limited interventions, but ongoing support that adapts to what each child needs. For children who have experienced abuse, this consistency can be transformative. Our evaluation found that children valued the sense of being known and cared for, often in contrast to their experiences elsewhere in the system.
Second, the model integrates advocacy alongside recovery support. This means recovery workers don’t just focus on therapeutic outcomes — they also help children and families navigate the system around them. That might mean supporting a family to understand what happens next in a criminal justice process, advocating for a child’s needs in multi-agency meetings, or helping to manage the anxiety and uncertainty that comes with prolonged court timelines.
One young person described the Bairns’ Hoose as a safe space — somewhere nothing bad would happen, where they felt relaxed rather than overwhelmed. That sense of safety is not incidental. It’s the product of deliberate, skilled, relationship-based work.
The challenges
Our findings also highlight tensions that remain. Recovery workers are not yet routinely embedded in all statutory decision-making processes. Their inclusion in forums such as Children’s Planning processes and Inter-agency Referral Discussion meetings is inconsistent, which limits the model’s reach. There is a strong case for deeper integration — not to replace existing professional roles, but to ensure that children’s recovery needs are represented at every stage.
Funding remains a significant concern. The recovery service is not yet established on a long-term footing, which affects staff retention, service continuity, and the ability to support children through what are often lengthy justice journeys. Children don’t recover on a funding cycle.
What this tells us about the model
The early evidence from North Strathclyde suggests that recovery-focused advocacy is not an optional extra. It may be the mechanism through which many of the other components of Bairns’ Hoose — the child-centred space, the improved interviewing, the multi-agency collaboration — actually deliver their intended impact. Without someone walking alongside the child, the system risks remaining something that happens to children rather than with them.
As Scotland’s ten Bairns’ Hoose partnerships develop their own approaches, the question of what recovery means in practice — and how it is resourced — will be central.