Social services are placing too much emphasis on investigating families who are struggling to care for their children rather than providing them with support to help them overcome their difficulties, according to a study.
England’s current system has been described as a “30-year-old Jenga tower held in place with duct tape: both rigid and fragile”.
The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care said: “Too often children are moved away from where they grew up, are separated from their siblings, are forced to change schools and have a revolving door. social workers.
“We fail to build lifelong loving relationships around these children.”
Josh MacAlister, a former teacher who led the review, said, “Many professionals and departments are doing a great job, but this report exposes the scale of the issues we face and the urgent need for a new approach.
The review found that the focus on investigation rather than support creates an atmosphere of confrontation in the care sector – pitting families against authorities.
He revealed that just under 135,000 investigations where a child was suspected of having suffered significant harm had not resulted in his placement in a child protection plan.
Action for Children’s Joe Lane says more funding is needed for social services
According to Joe Lane of the charity Action for Children, more funding is needed for children’s social services as well as a diversion of existing funds.
He said there had been a “massive shift in spending” over the past 10 years, with more money spent on late intervention and less money on early intervention.
Rachel Musekiwa, a 20-year-old who was previously in care, knows firsthand the impact of late intervention and the importance of keeping families together.
She was taken into care at the age of seven and first shared a foster family with her youngest …
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Source: news.sky.com
This notice was published: 2021-06-17 01:12:00
