BBC: 'Children's services: What do we know about the children most in need?'
(extract)
"A steep rise in vulnerable children needing protection over the past 10 years is pushing council children's services in England into crisis, suggests research to be published tomorrow.
There has been a substantial increase in calls from the public and professionals worried about a child, according to a study for the Association of Directors of Children's Services.
The number of investigations where a child is believed to be at risk of significant harm has also more than doubled.
Over the past year, almost 2.4m people contacted children's services because they were worried about a child - a 78% increase on 10 years ago, while serious investigations over concerns of significant harm are up from just under 77,000 in 2008 to almost 200,000 last year - a rise of 159%.
Council leaders have warned they will have to overspend their budgets to meet demand, though the government says extra money was announced for children's services in the Budget and it is working with councils to ease the pressures and improve children's lives. (continues)
Summary points:
- A considerable increase in demand
The past decade has seen pressure increase across the board in the child protection system - the number of calls from people concerned about a child has nearly doubled.
- Domestic violence is behind nearly half the cases
In nearly half of the cases, where social workers carry out an assessment, domestic violence is a factor. The next most common issue is mental health problems.
- Funding has dropped since 2010...
Throughout the era of austerity, while councils have made cuts elsewhere, they maintain they have tried to protect spending on children's services.
But once inflation is taken into account, the money available to protect children has still fallen significantly. That combined with increasing demand and more complex cases has led to councils overspending their budget for children's services.
- ...but the number of social workers has increased
Finding and keeping front-line staff in this high-pressure world is a constant issue for local authorities.
The most up-to-date figures show a slight increase in the number of social workers but a third will have been with their current local authority for less that two years and 15% will change jobs during the year.
- Children in care have increased by a quarter
Most children that social workers are involved with will remain with their families but the numbers removed from their home and taken into local authority care have risen by 24% in a decade.
- Most children in care are older
Most children in the care system are older, with the largest single group aged between 10 and 15.
- There is a North-South divide...
There is something of a North-South divide when it comes to the number of children looked after by councils.
- ...and there are divides within communities
Talk to social workers and many will say they are seeing families facing real financial hardship, with austerity and welfare cuts playing their part in pushing people into crisis.
That's reflected by research that found children living in the poorest areas were at least 10 times more likely to be taken into care than those in the most affluent parts of the country. It is a pattern that is repeated across all the nations of the UK.
- Most children are with foster parents...
Nearly three-quarters of children being looked after by councils live with foster parents, which costs local authorities about £1.7bn a year .
Since the 1960s, government policy has moved away from residential children's homes.
- ...and children are likely to return to families
Almost a third of the more than 31,000 children who left care in 2017 returned to their families.
About 14% were adopted, after spending an average of two years in care.
- Children often face difficulties after care
About a quarter of children who cease to be looked after when they reach their 18th birthdays continue to live with their foster parents but the future for many care leavers is difficult. Of the 18- to 21-year-olds who stayed in touch with councils, 40% were not in education, training or employment.
www.bbc.com/news/education-46049154
nuanced discussion now on Radio 4 PM