The government published a progress report on implementation of its 'Children's Plan' after one year. It said that there were still too many young people not fulfilling their potential, too many schools where standards were not high enough, and more action needed to protect every child from abuse, harm, and neglect. It announced a new £200 million 'co-location fund' to bring health, education, and children's services together. It also said that an additional £38 million had been allocated to improving outcomes for children with special educational needs.
Source: The Children's Plan One Year On: A progress report, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Summary | DCSF press release (1) | DCSF press release (2) | Unicef UK press release | SkillsActive press release | Voice press release | NDCS press release | NASUWT press release (1) | NASUWT press release (2) | Community Care report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Dec
The inspectorate for education and children's services published the outcomes of the 2008 annual performance assessments conducted across 147 local authorities in England, providing a broad overview of every council's performance in relation to children's services – including education, social care, and health. 73 per cent of the authorities were judged good or outstanding in the contribution they made to improving services overall for children and young people, a decrease on the previous year (78 per cent).
Source: Press release 17 December 2008, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (07002 637833)
Links: OFSTED press release | DCSF press release | LGA press release | ADCS press release | NUT press release | UNISON press release | RCN press release | BBC report | Community Care report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | TES report
Date: 2008-Dec
The government published its response to the third joint chief inspectors' report on arrangements to safeguard children (published in July 2008), which made a number of recommendations designed to improve safeguarding arrangements for children and young people.
Source: Safeguarding the Young and Vulnerable: The government's response to the third Joint Chief Inspectors' report on arrangements to safeguard children (Part 1), Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2008-Dec
The Court of Appeal upheld a compensation claim against a local council for the years of abuse suffered by a man at the hands of his parents when he was a child. The man had initially been removed from his family home into foster care for 15 months: but social services later returned him to his parents, where he suffered 12 years of further abuse.
Source: Pierce v Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, Court of Appeal 12 December 2008
Links: Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Dec
A new book examined early pregnancy and parenthood from the perspectives of young men and women in and leaving care. It questioned the assumptions that early parenthood always limited young people's choices and opportunities, and examined the types of support most likely to enable successful parenting.
Source: Elaine Chase, Ian Warwick, Abigail Knight and Peter Aggleton, Supporting Young Parents: Pregnancy and parenthood among young people from care, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (020 7833 2307)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Dec
An article examined whether Sure Start Local Programmes in England affected the well-being of children (at age 3) and their families. After controlling for background factors, beneficial effects were found to be associated with the programmes for 5 out of 14 outcomes. Children in the SSLP areas showed better social development than those in the non-SSLP areas, with more positive social behaviour and greater independence. Families in SSLP areas showed less negative parenting, and provided a better home-learning environment. These families used more services for supporting child and family development than those not living in SSLP areas. The contrast between these and previous findings on the effect of SSLPs might indicate increased exposure to programmes that had become more effective.
Source: Edward Melhuish, Jay Belsky, Alastair Leyland and Jacqueline Barnes, 'Effects of fully-established Sure Start Local Programmes on 3-year-old children and their families living in England: a quasi-experimental observational study', The Lancet, 8 November 2008
Links: Abstract | Guardian report | Pulse report
Date: 2008-Nov
The government commissioned an urgent nationwide review of child protection procedures, in the wake of the death of 'baby P' – a baby aged 17 months who died at the hands of his mother, her boyfriend, and another man. It asked Lord Laming, who led the inquiry in 2000 into the Victoria Climbié case, to prepare an independent report on how his recommendations were being addressed nationally.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 12 November 2008, columns 57-58WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | DCSF press release (1) | DCSF press release (2) | GSCC press release | NHS Confederation press release | ADCS press release | CWDC press release | Conservative Party press release | Telegraph report (1) | Telegraph report (2) | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Guardian report (3) | Guardian report (4) | Community Care report | Socialist Worker report
Date: 2008-Nov
The Children and Young Persons Act 2008 was given Royal assent. The Act reformed the statutory framework around the care system for children and young people. It was aimed at increasing transparency and the quality of care planning, and at ensuring that the child's voice was heard when important decisions that affected their future were taken.
Source: Children and Young Persons Act 2008, Department for Children, Schools and Families, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Act | Explanatory notes | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Nov
The government announced that it intended to legislate to: extend the number of relevant partners under a duty to co-operate with children's trust, so as to include schools, sixth-form and further education colleges, and Jobcentre Plus; make the children's trust board a statutory body; and give the board responsibility for producing the children and young people's plan, which would then be 'owned' by the full children's trust partnership.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 18 November 2008, columns 8-9WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | DCSF press release | Community Care report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Nov
A think-tank report said that adult services needed to be more effectively joined up to better protect children at risk. Although post-Climbie reforms had made children's services more effective, integration within single services was not enough. Children and adult services were still too disjointed. Case workers should have access to information about a child's entire household to ensure that the child was not at risk from any relevant adult.
Source: Giorgia Iacopini, Families Matter: Reshaping local services to support families, New Local Government Network (020 7357 0051)
Links: Report | NLGN press release
Date: 2008-Nov
The government began consultation on proposals for the introduction of an independent review mechanism relating to the approval of foster carers in England. The mechanism would give prospective and existing foster carers the option of having their case reviewed by an independent panel where their fostering service provider proposed to turn down their application to be a foster carer, or to revoke or amend the terms of their existing approval.
Source: Independent Review Mechanism (Fostering), Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Consultation document
Date: 2008-Nov
A report summarized the views of children on the key issues that they would like to see considered for future inclusion in the national minimum standards for social care. Having their own privacy, being kept safe and healthy, and staying in touch with their families were the most important of the 40 possible provisions that the majority of children (95 per cent) wanted to see included in the new standards. Children were particularly keen that the standards addressed concerns about internet safety.
Source: Future Care: Children's advice on future care standards, HMI 080181, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (07002 637833)
Links: Report | OFSTED press release
Date: 2008-Oct
A report highlighted the potential benefits of using a 'systems approach' to understanding frontline practice, in order to improve the quality and safety of service provision for children.
Source: Sheila Fish, Eileen Munro and Sue Bairstow, Learning Together to Safeguard Children: Developing a multi-agency systems approach for case reviews, Report 19, Social Care Institute for Excellence (020 7089 6840)
Date: 2008-Oct
An article examined the reasons for the low priority given to physical and outdoor activity in care services in Scotland. It highlighted the variety of stakeholders involved in care services and the potential conflicts among them. National and local government needed to commit themselves to an integrated policy, with more incentives for business and communities to improve lifestyles and environments.
Source: Adrienne Curry and Bridget Clark, 'Children at play – an endangered species?', Public Money and Management, Volume 28 Issue 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Oct
A report said that local councils should be given formal authority to appoint joint strategic directors for children's and adults' services (rather than having two separate posts).
Source: Rachel Potter with Andrew Cozens, Think Family, Think Community: The role of directors with combined responsibilities for children's and adults' services, Improvement and Development Agency (020 7296 6693)
Links: Report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Oct
A study examined ethnic minority children's care careers, and possible differences in decision-making and outcomes for ethnic minority children in comparison with white children. No systematic bias against, or mishandling of, ethnic minority children was found compared with white children from the time they came to the attention of children's services.
Source: Julie Selwyn et al., Pathways to Permanence for Black, Asian and Mixed Ethnicity Children: Dilemmas, decision-making and outcomes, Research Report RBX-13-08, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Brief
Date: 2008-Oct
The Children and Young Persons Bill was given a third reading. The Bill was designed to reform the statutory framework around the care system for children and young people. It was aimed at increasing transparency and the quality of care planning, and at ensuring that the child's voice was heard when important decisions that affected their future were taken.
Source: Children and Young Persons Bill [HL], Department for Children, Schools and Families, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 8 October 2008, columns 303-378, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Oct
A report highlighted the need for more support for the sons and daughters of foster carers. The relationship between foster carers' own children and those placed into their care could make or break a foster placement.
Source: Fostering Families: Supporting sons and daughters of foster carers, Fostering Network (020 7620 6400)
Links: Report | Fostering Network press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Oct
Researchers examined the patterns and outcomes of looked-after children returning home, the factors associated with successful returns, and children's and parents' experiences of reunification. Reunification needed to be given greater priority on the policy agenda of government and local authorities, with a greater focus on social work education and practice.
Source: Elaine Farmer, Wendy Sturgess and Teresa O'Neill, Reunification of Looked After Children with Their Parents: Patterns, interventions and outcomes, Research Brief RBX 14-08, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Brief
Date: 2008-Oct
A report (by an official advisory body) said that most new Sure Start children's centres were performing well, and were supporting the government's aim of giving pre-school children the best start in life. However, the two-year turnaround time allowed to build centres was proving very challenging for local authorities and the heads of the new centres. This was having an impact on design: although the centres were rated highly by families, very few were rated as good by design professionals.
Source: Sure Start Children's Centres: A Post-occupancy Evaluation, Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (020 7960 2400)
Date: 2008-Oct
An audit report said that the 'children's trusts' created after the death of Victoria Climbie had been 'confused and confusing'. There was little evidence of better outcomes for children and young people resulting from the requirement that local areas in England set up special panels to co-ordinate services. Trusts actually impeded closer working between professional. One-third of directors of children's services said the purpose of the trusts was unclear, and that the uncertainty was hampering their efforts to deliver better services.
Source: Are We There Yet? Improving governance and resource management in children's trusts, Audit Commission (0800 502030)
Links: Report | Audit Commission press release | RCN press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Oct
A discussion paper examined the emerging policy context for children's services. It said that personalization could only be achieved by a fundamental transformation in the power relationships between services and families.
Source: Nic Crosby and Simon Duffy, A Whole-life Approach to Personalisation: Self-directed support for every child and young person, in Control (0121 708 3031)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Oct
A think-tank report said that market approaches in residential care were in effect 'trading' the futures of the most vulnerable children, by prioritizing short-term cost savings. The government and some local authorities were claiming to endorse a 'child-centred' approach while making cuts that betrayed a lack of understanding of what young people in care really needed and valued. Councils were bypassing the best residential childcare providers in favour of cheaper options that yielded poorer outcomes than more expensive specialist therapeutic provision.
Source: Eilis Lawlor, A False Economy: How failing to invest in the care system for children will cost us all, New Economics Foundation (020 7820 6300)
Links: Report | NEF press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Sep
An article said that new and different understandings of prevention in the field of child welfare could be explored when located within a contemporary context of social exclusion. A framework based on the work of the National Evaluation of the Children's Fund provided a useful way forward for the development of preventative policy and would enable practitioners to reflect on their activities and roles.
Source: Kate Morris and Marian Barnes, 'Prevention and social exclusion: new understandings for policy and practice', British Journal of Social Work, Volume 38 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Sep
An article reported a case study of a programme within the national Sure Start initiative in England, 1999-2005. Programme 'reach' was conceptualized as having two aspects: contact and use. It was found that, conceptualized as contact, programme reach was virtually 100 per cent. Conceptualized as use, it varied according to services within the programme and to some extent according to family characteristics. The relatively more disadvantaged families were reached almost as much as other families.
Source: Peter Hannon, Caroline Pickstone, Rupert Suckling and Deborah Crofts, 'The reach of early intervention: a case study of a Sure Start programme', Evidence & Policy, Volume 4 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Sep
The inspectorate for education and children's services reported improvements in private fostering services, although there was still wide variability and incomplete implementation of new legal requirements.
Source: Children's Experience of Private Fostering, HMI 070209, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (07002 637833)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Sep
A report examined the health and well-being of young people in care. Young people in care were happy: but they sometimes felt the affects of stress, wanted better advice on relationships, and wanted more support to eat healthily.
Source: The Experiences of Young People in Care, Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) (020 7510 7036)
Links: Report | CAFCASS press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Sep
The government began consultation on proposals to give Sure Start children's centres a statutory identity.
Source: Legislating for Sure Start Children's Centres, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Consultation document | DCSF press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Sep
The inspectorate for education and children's services found that 1 in 4 children receiving social care did not know what an advocate was, and a further 16 per cent did not know how to access one.
Source: Children's Care Monitor 2008: Children's views on how care is doing, HMI 070207, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (07002 637833)
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Sep
A think-tank report said that the care system for children was a 'source of national shame'. Local councils were failing to fulfil their legal duties properly to look after youngsters from disturbed backgrounds. Children in care should be given the right to sue for compensation if councils wilfully neglected their responsibility to provide a decent upbringing and education.
Source: Couldn't Care Less, Centre for Social Justice (020 7620 1120)
Links: Report | Summary | CSJ press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Sep
Researchers examined pilot projects funded by the Scottish Government designed to combat low achievement in education by looked-after children and young people, in order to identify interventions that appeared to make the most difference in terms of both educational experience and educational outcomes.
Source: Graham Connelly et al., The Educational Attainment of Looked After Children – Local Authority Pilot Projects: Final Research Report, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Sep
A new book examined the costs of placing children in care, how variations in cost related to differences in children's needs, and whether higher costs reflected better services and better outcomes for children.
Source: Harriet Ward, Lisa Holmes and Jean Soper, Costs and Consequences of Placing Children in Care, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (020 7833 2307)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Aug
The Scottish Government began consultation on proposals to reform and streamline the children's hearings system, to improve the support given to vulnerable young people and create a more integrated system.
Source: Strengthening for the Future: A consultation on the reform of the children's hearings system, Scottish Government (0131 556 8400)
Links: Consultation document | SG press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Aug
The government began consultation on proposals to change the existing framework for children's trusts. These included: requiring all areas to have a children and young people's plan, with extended ownership of the plan to all statutory partners; proposals to strengthen the statutory framework for children and young people's plans through secondary legislation and further clarifying the required content of plans; extending the 'duty to co-operate' to other key partners; and establishing a stronger basis for children's trusts boards.
Source: Strengthening Children's Trusts: Legislative options, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Consultation document | Hansard | DCSF press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Jul
An article examined issues involved in promoting accountability in local authority services for looked-after children. Services had been substantially improved by recent developments in law and policy: but the continuing absence of external review, and a reliance on upward accountability, still left a 'flawed structure'.
Source: Penelope Welbourne and John Dixon, 'Accountable corporate parenting', Journal of Social Work, Volume 8 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Jul
An article examined the association between local authority care and offending behaviour. Although a greater number of young people in care had committed offences than in the general population, the vast majority were law-abiding. For those who did offend, the care episode itself was unlikely to have been the sole cause of their delinquency. The services offered once the young people entered local authority care did not succeed in combating established offending behaviour, and initiatives targeted in the community prior to entry to care might be more effective.
Source: Iain Darker, Harriet Ward and Laura Caulfield, 'An analysis of offending by young people looked after by local authorities', Youth Justice, Volume 8 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Jul
A report was published by eight inspectorates on a review of arrangements for safeguarding children and young people in England. It said that there was evidence of improvements in children's services, and in outcomes for children and young people, since the previous report in 2005.
Source: Safeguarding Children: The third joint chief inspectors' report on arrangements to safeguard children, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (07002 637833) and seven other inspectorates
Links: Report | Summary | Ofsted press release | DCSF press release | YJB press release | BBC report | Telegraph report | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Jul
A new book examined the costs of placing a child in the care of a local authority; how variations in these costs related to differences in children's needs; and whether higher costs reflected better services and better outcomes for children.
Source: Harriet Ward, Lisa Holmes and Jean Soper, Costs and Consequences of Placing Children in Care, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (020 7833 2307)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Jul
A new book examined the 'Integrated Children's System' (developed to support effective practice with children and families and improve decision-making and planning for children in need). It outlined how the system worked, and assessed the effectiveness of a number of pilot studies.
Source: Hedy Cleaver et al., The Integrated Children's System: Enhancing social work and inter-agency practice, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (020 7833 2307)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Jul
An article presented findings from a three-year government-funded study of the work and family lives of four important groups within the childcare workforce in England: residential social workers in children's homes, family support workers, foster carers, and community childminders. Although the planned integrated qualifications framework might assist mobility within the childcare workforce, other factors also needed to be taken into account. The choice to engage in particular types of childcare work was often linked to factors such as life stage, preferred age of child, preferred working environment, and the worker's own background and needs. This suggested the need for more targeted recruitment, matching people to type of work, and for more attention to be paid to the connexions between work and family life.
Source: June Statham, Julia Brannen and Ann Mooney, 'Mobility within the childcare workforce: evidence for a new policy?', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 37 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Jul
A new book examined the potential for closer 'working together' in children's services, its effectiveness, and its impact on children, parents, and children's services as a whole.
Source: Pam Foley and Andy Rixon (eds.), Changing Children's Services: Working and learning together, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Jul
A paper examined the measure of the output of children's social care which was used in the National Accounts, and considered ways to extend the amount of children's social care services measured directly.
Source: Helen Patterson, Public Service Output, Input and Productivity: Quantity Measure of Children's Social Care Output, UK Centre for the Measurement of Government Activity/Office for National Statistics (web publication only)
Links: Paper
Date: 2008-Jun
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the Children and Young Persons Bill.
Source: Children and Young Persons Bill [Lords]: Government Response to the Committee's First Report, Third Special Report (Session 2007-08), HC 711, House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2008-Jun
The Children and Young Persons Bill was given a second reading. The Bill was designed to reform the statutory framework around the care system for children and young people. It was aimed at increasing transparency and the quality of care planning, and at ensuring that the child's voice was heard when important decisions that affected their future were taken.
Source: Children and Young Persons Bill [HL], Department for Children, Schools and Families, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 16 June 2008, columns 721-777, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard
Date: 2008-Jun
The inspectorate for education and children's services published an overview of key themes that had emerged from the 2007 annual performance assessments of local authorities' services for children and young people in England. 78 per cent of local authorities were making a 'good or outstanding' contribution towards delivering better outcomes for children and young people, compared to 84 per cent in 2006.
Source: Annual Performance Assessment (APA) 2007: Report on outcomes, HMI 070227, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (07002 637833)
Links: Report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Jun
An article highlighted conflicts and dilemmas within the evaluation of the Sure Start programme. It illustrated the difficulties placed on local evaluators by the lack of clear structures within which to work.
Source: Jill Clark and Elaine Hall, 'Will the lessons be learned? Reflections on local authority evaluations and the use of research evidence', Evidence & Policy, Volume 4 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Jun
A report by a committee of MPs said that the consolidation and rationalization of existing legislation in relation to vulnerable children in Wales (by means of a special order) was a 'laudable aim', which would do much to advance clarity and understanding of the existing situation, as well as to help reduce gaps in service provision.
Source: The Proposed Draft National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Social Welfare and Other Fields) Order 2008, Fifth Report (Session 2007-08), HC 576, House of Commons Welsh Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Jun
A report said that kinship care could be a positive option for many abused and neglected children: but it was not straightforward, and required careful assessment and adequate support. To realize the full potential of this form of care required clear policies at central and local government level, appropriate infrastructures, and adequate resourcing.
Source: Joan Hunt, Suzette Waterhouse and Eleanor Lutman, Keeping Them in the Family, BAAF Adoption and Fostering (020 7593 2000)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Jun
The education inspectorate in Scotland examined the education of looked-after children. It highlighted a continually changing population of children and young people with a complex range of educational and care needs. It identified a number of 'signposts for improvement' through which the quality of services and educational outcomes for looked-after children could be improved.
Source: Count Us In: Improving the education of our looked after children, HM Inspectorate of Education in Scotland (01506 600200)
Links: Report | HMIE press release | LTScotland press release
Date: 2008-Jun
The government published an action plan on young runaways, setting out the level of service and support that local agencies should be providing. It said that local authorities should identify those at risk of running away as part of their targeted youth support arrangements.
Source: Young Runaways Action Plan, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Action Plan | DCSF press release | Childrens Society press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Jun
A report examined the role of the lead member for children's services – a new statutory role for local councils; and it identified the key factors that supported them to became highly effective political leaders of children's services.
Source: Developing Skills, Delivering Outcomes: The effective political leadership of children's services, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Jun
A new book compared formal kinship care with traditional foster placements, in order to ascertain which children were placed with kin and in what circumstances, how well such children progressed, and how often these placements disrupted children's lives.
Source: Elaine Farmer and Sue Moyers, Kinship Care: Fostering effective family and friends placements, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (020 7833 2307)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Jun
The children's services inspectorate said that most parents with a child or children in care thought that the children were being looked after very well by the local council: but the parents also felt left out of their children's lives.
Source: Parents on Council Care: A report on parents' views by the Children's Rights Director for England, HMI 070208, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (07002 637833)
Links: Report | OFSTED press release
Date: 2008-Jun
A report examined new or updated children's and young people's plans published by local authorities in 2007. The analysis focused on three key themes: commissioning, safeguarding, and looked-after children.
Source: Mary Atkinson (ed.), Analysis of Children and Young People's Plans 2007, National Foundation for Educational Research (01753 747281)
Date: 2008-May
An article examined the extent to which the actions of practitioners and the experiences of service users with regard to the common assessment framework (CAF) mirrored or differed from those envisaged in government guidance and policy documents. Very small numbers of children and young people actually received the service; and despite genuine enthusiasm from practitioners for them to be so, the processes observed could not yet be described as fully 'child centred'. Fathers were insufficiently involved; and the CAF was, in reality, another service rationed according to resources available and agencies' priorities.
Source: Philip Gilligan and Martin Manby, 'The common assessment framework: does the reality match the rhetoric?', Child & Family Social Work, Volume 13 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-May
The care services regulator in Scotland said that more than half of Scotland's 236 residential care services for young people needed to make improvements to their standards of practice.
Source: Protecting Children and Young People in Residential Care: Are we doing enough?, Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SCRC press release | BBC report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-May
An article examined the participation of children and young people in social care decision-making in England. The mechanisms used to facilitate participation and the culture of the organizations in which participation took place were important factors in the process, and a clearer understanding of power could be used to help agencies improve their policy-making.
Source: Robert Gunn, 'The power to shape decisions? An exploration of young people's power in participation', Health and Social Care in the Community, Volume 16 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-May
A new book described insights gained from the national evaluation of Sure Start. Separate chapters covered: ethnicity; childcare; parents; special needs; maternity services; domestic violence; and buildings and spaces.
Source: Angela Anning and Mog Ball (eds.), Improving Services for Young Children: From Sure Start to Children's Centres, SAGE Publications Ltd (020 7324 8500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-May
An article reported a review of literature related to the Victoria Climbie Inquiry (conducted following the death of a child while under supervision by social services). It highlighted deficiencies in the education, training, and employment support mechanisms for social workers.
Source: Rachel Balen and Helen Masson, 'The Victoria Climbie case: social work education for practice in children and families' work before and since', Child & Family Social Work, Volume 13 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-May
An article examined the health and well-being of young people making the transition from care to independent adulthood.
Source: Jo Dixon, 'Young people leaving care: health, well-being and outcomes', Child & Family Social Work, Volume 13 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-May
An article presented findings from a study of the work and family lives of four groups within the children's care workforce in England: residential social workers in children's homes, family support workers, foster carers, and community childminders. Although the planned integrated qualifications framework might assist mobility within the childcare workforce, other factors also needed to be taken into account. The choice to engage in particular types of childcare work was often linked to factors such as life stage, preferred age of child, preferred working environment, and the worker's own background and needs.
Source: June Statham, Julia Brannen and Ann Mooney, 'Mobility within the childcare workforce: evidence for a new policy?', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 37 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Apr
An article examined ways in which Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service practitioners went beyond the purely assessment role expected of them in the course of the enquiries they undertook.
Source: Greg Mantle, Isabel Williams, Jane Leslie, Sarah Parsons and Ray Shaffer, 'Beyond assessment: social work intervention in family court enquiries', British Journal of Social Work, Volume 38 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Apr
A new book highlighted the problems, dilemmas, and challenges facing the child protection agencies in England and Wales, and examined a variety of areas where knowledge on child abuse was either limited or out-of-date.
Source: Peter Kennison and Anthony Goodman (eds.), Children as Victims, Learning Matters (01392 215560)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Apr
A study provided baseline data on care proceedings brought under the Children Act 1989, as a basis against which reforms to the care proceedings system could be evaluated. It profiled the characteristics of the children and families involved in care proceedings, the concerns and actions of local authorities, and plans for the child's care.
Source: Judith Masson, Julia Pearce and Kay Bader with others, Care Profiling Study, Research Report 4/08, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Mar
An article provided a critical analysis of the assumptions that underpinned the 'Every Child Matters' programme in England. The relationships between parents, children, professionals, and the state, and their respective responsibilities, were being reconfigured – with the result that the priority given to the accumulation, monitoring, and exchange of electronic information had taken on a central significance. We were witnessing the emergence of the 'preventive-surveillance' state, where the role of the state was becoming broader and more interventionist.
Source: Nigel Parton, 'The "Change for Children" programme in England: towards the "preventive-surveillance state"', Journal of Law and Society, Volume 35 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Mar
The government published a plan for improving the lives of looked-after children and young people. Local authorities and those working with children in care would be asked to focus on providing stability; listening more carefully to children in care; ensuring every child had a strong, stable relationship with their carers; and having aspirations which were as high for these children as they were for others.
Source: Care Matters: Time to Deliver – An implementation plan, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Plan | DCSF press release | NCH press release | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Mar
A report by a committee of MPs examined a government Bill on the care of looked-after children. It said that some sort of safety net was needed in cases where services were withdrawn at short notice by a private provider. It also called for a 'truly independent voice' to make sure that the interests of looked-after children were properly represented.
Source: Children and Young Persons Bill [Lords], First Report (Session 2007-08), HC 359, House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Mar
A report said that children in Sure Start areas showed more positive social behaviour and greater independence than counterparts in similarly deprived areas. Parents were more likely to provide a better learning environment for their children and exhibit less negative parenting, and made greater use of support services. The benefits of living in an area with a children's centre were not confined to particular groups, and applied to the most disadvantaged, such as teenage and lone parents and workless households.
Source: National Evaluation of Sure Start, The Impact of Sure Start Local Programmes on Three Year Olds and Their Families, Research Report NESS/2008/FR/027, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Brief | DCSF press release | Sure Start press release | Community Care report | Children & Young People Now report | BBC report | FT report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Mar
An article said that local authorities were both expected to refrain from intervening (care proceedings were a measure of last resort) and to be fully prepared for intervention (while leaving children with their parents). These conflicting expectations on local authorities, resource constraints, and considerations of legal process made them 'reluctant parents'.
Source: Judith Masson, 'The state as parent: the reluctant parent? The problems of parents of last resort', Journal of Law and Society, Volume 35 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Mar
An article examined the role of cultural, religious, and linguistic diversity in child care proceedings. There was room for considerable improvement in the degree of attention given to issues of diversity in evidence, and in the experiences of parents attending court.
Source: Julia Brophy, 'Child maltreatment in diverse households: challenges to law, theory, and practice', Journal of Law and Society, Volume 35 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Mar
The education inspectorate in Wales said that partnerships between local authorities and education providers in children's homes were in need of 'significant improvement'.
Source: Education in Children's Homes, HM Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales (029 2044 6446)
Links: Report | HMCIETW press release
Date: 2008-Mar
Researchers examined a cohort of 113 children who had been removed from their parents' care by the courts because of child protection concerns, who were then placed in kinship care. Kinship care could be a positive option for many abused and neglected children: but it was not straightforward, and required careful assessment and adequate support.
Source: Joan Hunt, Suzette Waterhouse and Eleanor Lutman, Keeping Them in the Family: Outcomes for abused and neglected children placed with family or friends carers through care proceedings, Research Brief RBX-05-08, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Brief | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Mar
The watchdog in Scotland for the rights of children and young people said that vulnerable children were leaving care when they were too young, ending up homeless and potentially vulnerable to drug/alcohol problems and unemployment. Eight times as many young people left care at 16 as at 18, despite law and policy strongly advising that they should be encouraged to stay in care until they were 18.
Source: Sweet 16? The age of leaving care in Scotland, Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People (0131 558 3733)
Links: Report | Summary | Herald report | BBC report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Mar
A new book brought together the lessons learned from the Sure Start programme. Separate chapters covered: child development and healthcare; partnership working with existing local services; parental employment and supporting families with young children; reaching out to marginalized groups; and strengthening communities.
Source: Justine Schneider, Mark Avis and Paul Leighton (eds.), Supporting Children and Families: Lessons from Sure Start for evidence-based practice in health, social care and education, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (020 7833 2307)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Feb
An article examined how care-leavers accessed and used housing services, and what they said had helped them to do so. Care-leavers had more positive housing experiences than other young people in difficulty, helped by the improved preparation for independence and ongoing support available to them from leaving care teams.
Source: Antonia Simon, 'Early access and use of housing: care leavers and other young people in difficulty', Child & Family Social Work, Volume 13 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Feb
An article examined the informal support networks available to a sample of young people over a period of 12-15 months after leaving care. It highlighted the need for continuing professional attention to be given to strengthening family links as one strategy for helping care leavers to negotiate the transition to adulthood.
Source: Jim Wade, 'The ties that bind: support from birth families and substitute families for young people leaving care', British Journal of Social Work, Volume 38 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Feb
A report examined security controls within 'ContactPoint' – the national database of all children in England, designed to enable people working with children or young people to find out who else was working with the same child. It made recommendations for improving procedures.
Source: Deloitte and Touche LLP, ContactPoint Data Security Review, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Summary | Hansard | Liberal Democrats press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Telegraph report | Children & Young People Now report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Feb
The Law Lords said (in dismissing a case on technical grounds) that a local authority should have referred a homeless girl (aged 16), whose mother could not look after her, to its children's services department – rather than simply refer her to its housing department and put her up in a series of temporary hotels and hostels.
Source: R (On the Application of M) v London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Appellate Committee, UKHL 14 (Session 2007-08), House of Lords Judicial Office (020 7219 3111)
Links: Text of judgement | Howard League press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Feb
A report summarized research on children's views on bullying. It covered children living away from home in England (in children's homes, boarding schools, residential special schools, residential further education colleges, foster care, adoption placements, or residential family centres), those who were getting help of any sort from the children's social care services of their local council, and care leavers. Increasing numbers of children claimed they carried knives and bottles to defend themselves against bullies.
Source: <:Roger Morgan (Children's Rights Director for England), Children on Bullying, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (07002 637833)
Links: Report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Feb
An article examined the part played by service users themselves – particularly through their informal interactions and culture – in the responsiveness of children's centres to higher-need families.
Source: Michael Sheppard, Paula MacDonald and Penelope Welbourne, 'Service users as gatekeepers in children's centres', Child & Family Social Work, Volume 13 Issue 1 Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Feb
Researchers examined (in two separate reports) serious case reviews in England between 2001 and 2005 – carried out when abuse and neglect were known or suspected when a child died (or was seriously injured or harmed), and there were lessons to be learned about inter-agency working to protect children. The families of very young children who were physically assaulted (including those with head injuries) tended to be in contact with universal services or adult services rather than children's social care. In families where children suffered long-term neglect, children's social care often failed to take account of previous history and adopted the 'start again syndrome'. In many cases social workers and health professionals were 'preoccupied with eligibility for their services rather than concern for the child'.
Source: Wendy Rose and Julie Barnes, Improving Safeguarding Practice: Study of serious case reviews 2001-2003, Research Report RR022, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260) | Marion Brandon et al., Analysing Child Deaths and Serious Injury Through Abuse and Neglect: What can we learn? A biennial analysis of serious case reviews 2003-2005, Research Report RR023, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: Report 022 | Brief 022 | Report 023 | Brief 023 | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Jan
The inspectorate for education and children's services said that extended schools and Sure Start children's centres made a 'positive contribution' to improving the lives of children and their families, as well as achieving overall success. But some did not do enough to help harder-to-reach groups – including fathers and some minority ethnic groups.
Source: How Well Are They Doing? The impact of children's centres and extended schools, HMI, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (07002 637833)
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | TDA press release | BBC report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Jan
A report examined the relationship between schools and local authorities in protecting and safeguarding children. It investigated the role of schools in the child protection process, and examined the decision-making processes that came into play when a child welfare concern prompted the decision to contact social services.
Source: Mary Baginsky, Schools, Social Services and Safeguarding Children: Past practice and future challenges, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (0207 825 2775)
Date: 2008-Jan
A Law Lords ruling opened the possibility that people who had been victims of physical and sexual abuse as children might, in individual cases, be able to pursue compensation claims beyond the existing time limit of 6 years after turning the age of 18. (The ruling was made in a case where a rape victim was seeking compensation from her attacker outside the 6-year limit.)
Source: A v Hoare, C (FC) v Middlesbrough Council, X (FC) and another (FC) v London Borough of Wandsworth (Conjoined Appeals), H (FC) v Suffolk County Council, Young (FC) v Catholic Care (Diocese of Leeds) and others, UKHL 6 (Session 2007-08), House of Lords Judicial Office (020 7219 3111)
Links: Text of judgement | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Jan
Two briefing papers summarized research on the 'Integrated Children's System', designed to fit together and promote best practice in direct work with children and their families or carers. The degree of change experienced by practitioners as a result of the ICS was not uniform across children's social care. About 1 in 3 social workers thought that the ICS provided a helpful structure. Others, however, thought that the system was overly complex and that the sheer weight of the assessment within the system complicated the social work task.
Source: Integrated Children's System Evaluation: Summary of Key Findings, Research Brief RBX-02-08, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260) | Hedy Cleaver et al., Integrated Children's System: Enhancing Social Work and Inter-agency Practice, Research Brief RBX-01-08, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Date: 2008-Jan