A report said that a lack of awareness by schools and local authorities of the signs that a child was running away from home, together with cuts to school and local authority budgets, was leading to missed opportunities to intervene before children found themselves in dangerous or harmful situations.
Source: Natalie Williams, Lessons to Learn: Exploring the links between running away and absence from school, Children s Society
Links: Report | Childrens Society press release
Date: 2012-Dec
A report presented the views of a sample of children and young people on their experiences of physical restraint. Children thought that restraint should be used as a last resort to prevent injury to people or serious damage to property: but they warned that the use of restraint could sometimes make matters worse, could engender resentment, and could be inappropriate for some children (such as those who had experienced abuse by adults).
Source: Children's Views on Restraint, Children s Rights Director for England/Office of the Children's Commissioner
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Dec
A joint inspectorate report criticized the work of youth offending teams with children in care in England and Wales. It said that the children concerned were left ill-equipped to lead productive and law-abiding lives.
Source: Looked After Children: An inspection of the work of Youth Offending Teams with children and young people who are looked after and placed away from home, HM Chief Inspector of Probation/Ofsted/Estyn
Links: Report | Inspectorate press release | Action for Children press release | Childrens Society press release | Labour Party press release | LGA press release | T2A press release | BBC report | Daily Mail report | Guardian report | Public Finance report | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Dec
The coalition government announced that a new system would be established to help hospital doctors and nurses to spot children suffering from abuse and neglect. The 'Child Protection – Information System' would identify whether children treated in hospital were subject to a child protection plan or being looked after by the local authority; and/or had frequently attended emergency departments or urgent care centres over a period of time. Work on the system would begin in early 2013, and it would start to be introduced to National Health Service hospitals in 2015.
Source: Press release 27 December 2012, Department of Health
Links: DH press release | Action for Children press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-Dec
A report said that police forces and local authorities in England were not doing enough to protect children who ran away from home or care. The protection offered to children varied considerably, with some areas failing to keep children safe from harm.
Source: Make Runaways Safe: The local picture, Children s Society
Links: Report | Childrens Society press release | LGA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Dec
A think-tank report called for an increase in the number of foster children educated at private boarding schools.
Source: Alex Burghart, A Better Start in Life: Long-term approaches for the most vulnerable children, Policy Exchange
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release
Date: 2012-Dec
An article reported a process study of an English multi-disciplinary team working with families with long-standing and complex problems. The service succeeded in engaging a majority of the referred families who had previously been hard to reach or hard to change, and whose children were either 'on the edge of care' or likely to be significantly harmed without the provision of an intensive service. Improvements had been made in the life-chances of children in 75 per cent of the families.
Source: June Thoburn, Neil Cooper, Marian Brandon, and Sara Connolly, 'The place of "think family" approaches in child and family social work: messages from a process evaluation of an English pathfinder service', Children and Youth Services Review, Volume 35 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Dec
The inspectorate for education and children's services examined the views of young people in care on complaints and advocacy. 1 in 5 felt that their complaint had been dealt with unfairly. More than one-third felt that things had improved after they made a complaint: but over one-quarter felt that it had made things worse.
Source: Young People's Views on Complaints and Advocacy, Children s Rights Director for England/Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Report | OFSTED press release
Date: 2012-Dec
A report presented the findings from an audit and analysis of significant case reviews and initial case reviews conducted in Scotland since 2007.
Source: Sharon Vincent and Alison Petch, Audit and Analysis of Significant Case Reviews, Scottish Government
Links: Report
Notes: The purpose of a serious case review is to establish what lessons may be learned from a child welfare case about the way in which local professionals and organizations work.
Date: 2012-Nov
A report examined family involvement in serious case reviews, and made a series of recommendations. Decisions about which family members and significant others to involve should be made on a case-by-case basis, with no predetermined exclusions.
Source: Kate Morris, Marian Brandon, and Paul Tudor, A Study of Family Involvement in Case Reviews: Messages for policy and practice, British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect
Links: Summary
Notes: The purpose of a serious case review is to establish what lessons may be learned from a child welfare case about the way in which local professionals and organizations work.
Date: 2012-Nov
A report examined the experiences of fathers involved in the child protection system in Scotland. Professional responses to child protection concerns could marginalize fathers from services and more importantly from their parental role. This had serious implications for children's development and emotional well-being and was in contravention of their right to contact with both parents according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Source: Nick Smithers, Listening to Fathers: Men s experience of child protection in central Scotland, Circle (Family Service Unit Scotland)
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Nov
A report reviewed key research evidence to facilitate understanding among professionals working in the family justice system in areas relating to: neuroscience perspectives on children's cognitive, social, and emotional development; the implications of maltreatment on childhood and adulthood well-being; evidence concerning the outcomes of interventions by the courts and children's social care; and timeframes for intervening and why they were out of kilter with those for children.
Source: Rebecca Brown and Harriet Ward, Decision-Making within a Child's Timeframe: An overview of current research evidence for family justice professionals concerning child development and the impact of maltreatment, Working Paper 16, Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Nov
A report by a committee of MPs said that the child protection system in England was not meeting the needs of older children and should be reviewed urgently. There was evidence that children were left too long in situations where they suffered neglect before being taken into care. To encourage earlier intervention, all front-line professionals should have better training in child development and the long-term consequences of neglect.
Source: Children First: The child protection system in England, Fourth Report (Session 2012–13), HC 137, House of Commons Education Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Action for Children press release | ADCS press release | Labour Party press release | LGA press release | BBC report | Community Care report | Guardian report | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Nov
An article reported on the evaluation of an English experiment that, for the first time, used the private or independent sector to deliver statutory social work support for children and young people in out-of-home care. As small organizations, most of the social work practices involved succeeded in offering an accessible and personalized service, and public services should consider reorganizing to achieve similar outcomes. But contracted-out organizations struggled to provide children with the consistency and continuity of service that they needed.
Source: Nicky Stanley, Helen Austerberry, Andy Bilson, Nicola Farrelly, Shereen Hussein, Cath Larkins, Jill Manthorpe, and Julie Ridley, 'Turning away from the public sector in children's out-of-home care: an English experiment', Children and Youth Services Review, Volume 35 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Nov
A report examined the challenges faced by local councils in England in sustaining services to families and children during a period of austerity. Faced with tough choices, universal services were among the primary targets for short-term savings for councils, limiting future opportunities to intervene early before problems became crises.
Source: Families on the Front Line? Local spending on children s services in austerity, Family and Parenting Institute
Links: Report | FPI press release | Guardian report | Nursery World report
Date: 2012-Oct
A briefing paper identified some of the essential components of the social work services and practice most likely to improve decisions about which children could safely go home from public care, and to safeguard and promote the welfare of those who did. Returning from public care to live with a parent was the most likely 'permanence option': but, for maltreated children, the least successful. Families with complex needs might need high-intensity, relationship-based social work and multidisciplinary team-around-the-family approaches.
Source: June Thoburn, Julie Robinson, and Beth Anderson, Returning Children Home from Public Care, Research Briefing 42, Social Care Institute for Excellence
Links: Briefing
Date: 2012-Oct
A new book examined the children's residential care sector in Scotland.
Source: Graham Connelly and Ian Milligan, Residential Child Care: Between home and family, Dunedin Academic Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Oct
The coalition government published a charter for care leavers. It said that the charter was designed to raise expectation, aspiration, and understanding of what care leavers needed and what the government and local authorities should do to be good corporate parents.
Source: Charter for Care Leavers, Department for Education
Links: Charter | Letter | Speech | Action for Children press release | ADCS press release | Barnardos press release | Labour Party press release | LGA press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Oct
A report examined prevention and early intervention in children's services. It covered the three types of evidence that commissioners should consider before commissioning prevention services (data on children's needs, evidence of what worked, and robust cost-benefit analysis); how commissioners should address the challenge of how to replicate and scale what worked; and how to fund prevention and early intervention services in a climate of austerity.
Source: Michael Little and Sonia Sodha, Prevention and Early Intervention in Children s Services, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Oct
A think-tank report said that a graduate fast-track programme, drawing on the success of the Teach First scheme in schools, could help to address the problems facing the children's social work profession. This new programme – Frontline – would help to attract the best people into the profession, and in the long term create a movement of leaders to challenge social disadvantage.
Source: Josh MacAlister (with Lucy Crehan and Annika Olsen), Front Line: Improving the children s social work profession, Institute for Public Policy Research
Links: Report | BASW press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-Oct
The Children's Rights Director for England said that children in care were running away from placements for many reasons, such as stress, anger, and unhappiness at being in care. They did so despite being well aware of the dangers of sexual exploitation, drugs, and gang culture.
Source: Running Away: Young people s views on running away from care, Children's Rights Director for England/Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | BBC report | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Oct
A report said that levels of demand for child protection and care services in England continued to rise, and a majority of service directors feared that pressures would continue to rise in future years. Local authorities were having variable amounts of success in using early help services to reduce demand on child protection social workers.
Source: Carole Brooks, Philip Brocklehurst, and Sam Freeman, Safeguarding Pressures Phase 3, Association of Directors of Children's Services
Links: Report | ADCS press release
Date: 2012-Oct
An article examined the decision-making boundary between courts and local authorities in child protection cases. It considered the implications of making a greater number of highly consequential decisions within administrative rather than judicial settings, and explored the rights of children and parents within such decision-making processes. Although the intention of recent policy changes might be laudable, a number of obstacles might result in less desirable outcomes for children.
Source: Kim Holt and Nancy Kelly, 'Rhetoric and reality surrounding care proceedings: family justice under strain', Journal of Social Welfare & Family Law, Volume 34 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Oct
An article reported findings from a longitudinal study of outcomes for a sample of children who had become, or who were considered at risk of becoming, looked after. It highlighted the need for preventive multi-agency work with families with multiple risk factors, and the importance of education and children's social care working co-operatively together.
Source: Veronica Wigley, Michael Preston-Shoot, Isabella McMurray, and Helen Connolly, 'Researching young people s outcomes in children s services: findings from a longitudinal study', Journal of Social Work, Volume 12 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Oct
A new book provided a critical account of policy, systems, and practice in social care provision for children. It highlighted gaps in provision for neglected children after the initial referral stage, the risks and potential for professional interventions, and how well the child protection system and the courts protected children.
Source: Elaine Farmer and Eleanor Lutman, Effective Working with Neglected Children and their Families: Linking interventions to long-term outcomes, Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Sep
A report by an all-party group of MPs made a series of recommendations for how the care system could do more to support the educational needs of looked-after children and care leavers. It proposed a 'pupil premium plus' – an additional £1,000 payment to support the costs of education for looked-after children.
Source: Education Matters in Care: A report by the independent cross-party inquiry into the educational attainment of looked after children in England, All Party Parliamentary Group for Looked After Children and Care Leavers
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Sep
A report said that some children trafficked into the United Kingdom were going missing from local authority care. It raised particular concerns over a lack of secure and suitable accommodation for trafficked children.
Source: Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, Report Concerning the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings by the United Kingdom: First evaluation round, Council of Europe
Links: Report | BASW press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-Sep
A report examined the key issues relating to the implementation of evidence-based programmes in children's services.
Source: Meg Wiggins, Helen Austerberry, and Harriet Ward, Implementing Evidence-Based Programmes in Children's Services: Key issues for success, Research Report 245, Department for Education
Date: 2012-Sep
A report for the children's rights watchdog in Northern Ireland said that young people with learning disabilities faced a flawed system when moving from children's services to adult services, characterized by inconsistencies, weaknesses, and gaps.
Source: Laura Lundy, Bronagh Byrne, and Paschal McKeown, Review of Transitions to Adult Services for Young People with Learning Disabilities, Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People
Links: Report | NICCY press release
Date: 2012-Sep
A survey of social work professionals found that a majority (59 per cent) believed that it was 'quite' or 'very' unlikely that local social services would take swift action to protect children who were being neglected. There was pressure to downgrade cases of neglect – to 'children in need', rather than 'children in need of protection' – and the burden of evidence to take neglect cases to court was too high. Only 7 per cent said that they were confident that neglect cases that should progress to care proceedings or a supervision requirement application regularly did so.
Source: Community Care report, 27 September 2012
Links: Community Care report | Action for Children press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Sep
A report said that stronger statutory guidance was needed to make sure that every child in the care system in England had access to vital independent advocacy.
Source: Iryna Pona and David Hounsell, The Value of Independent Advocacy for Looked After Children and Young People, Children's Society
Links: Report | Childrens Society press release
Date: 2012-Sep
An official advisory body began consultation on a quality standard for social care relating to the health and well-being of looked-after children and young people in England.
Source: Looked-After Children and Young People – The Health and Wellbeing of Looked-After Children: Draft quality standard, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
Links: Consultation document | Summary
Date: 2012-Aug
The inspectorate for education and children's services said that disabled children were at risk of slipping through the child protection net. Many children and their families received good multi-agency early support: but too many children had child protection needs that went unidentified.
Source: Protecting Disabled Children: Thematic inspection report, HMI 120122, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | LGA press release | Mencap press release | BBC report | Community Care report | Guardian report | Public Finance report | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Aug
An audit report in Wales said that the educational attainment of looked-after children and young people was improving slowly: but there was too much variation in attainment, inconsistent support, and a lack of clearly defined outcomes against which progress could be assessed.
Source: The Educational Attainment of Looked after Children and Young People, Wales Audit Office
Links: Report | WAO press release
Date: 2012-Aug
An article examined a combination of developments that, in the authors' view, had undermined social workers' ability to develop strong partnerships with children and their families. Efforts to deal with excessive rules and procedures, or the revision of performance targets, as suggested in the Munro Review, would not mitigate the corrosive effects of rising social inequality. There was a need to challenge any moves to sideline family support and restrict social work to a narrow focus on child protection.
Source: Brid Featherstone, Karen Broadhurst, and Kim Holt, 'Thinking systemically – thinking politically: building strong partnerships with children and families in the context of rising inequality', British Journal of Social Work, Volume 42 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jul
A survey highlighted 'a picture of resilience and creativity' among children's centres – despite significant cuts within local authority budgets and the removal of the dedicated Sure Start grant. Local authorities had seen children's centres as a positive investment and sought to retain them where possible. Nonetheless, the number of children's centres had fallen by 281 (7.7 per cent) between 2010 and 2011, to 3,350.
Source: Sure Start Children s Centres Census 2012: Developments, trends and analysis of Sure Start children s centres over the last year and the implications for the future, 4Children
Links: Report | 4Children press release | Labour Party press release | Nursery World report
Date: 2012-Jul
Researchers examined approaches by local authorities in England to their children's trust arrangements, and how they were fulfilling their duty to promote co-operation with partners to improve the health and well-being of children and young people.
Source: Claire Easton, Monica Hetherington, Robert Smith, Pauline Wade, Helen Aston, and Geoff Gee, Local Authorities' Approaches to Children's Trust Arrangements, National Foundation for Educational Research
Date: 2012-Jul
A study examined the impact that new flexibilities granted to local authorities on a trial basis (in response to recommendation in the Munro Review of Child Protection) had had on practice and service responses to safeguarding children from harm.
Source: Emily Munro and Clare Lushey, The Impact of More Flexible Assessment Practices in Response to the Munro Review of Child Protection: Emerging findings from the trials, Department for Education
Links: Report | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Jul
A report identified the most important outcomes that children s centres should be striving for in order to give all children positive early years experiences. It called for a renewed focus on parenting and improving parents lives.
Source: Anne Pordes Bowers and Jason Strelitz (with Jessica Allen and Angela Donkin), An Equal Start: Improving outcomes in children s centres – An evidence review, UCL Institute of Health Equity
Links: Report | Summary | IHE press release | 4Children press release | NLT press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-Jul
A report said that 'children's zones', drawing on a model in Harlem (New York), offered a way to improve outcomes for children living in the most disadvantaged areas. Children's zones would bring together local service providers in a coherent way, and were a potentially powerful way of improving children's lives without requiring extra resources.
Source: Alan Dyson, Kirstin Kerr, Carlo Raffo, and Michael Wigelsworth (with Chris Wellings), Developing Children's Zones for England, Save the Children
Links: Report | Technical paper
Date: 2012-Jul
An article examined policy and practice developments in children's social work in England since the 1970s. Although what remained was a limited version of the possibilities of social work, there remained scope for a radical/critical practice that involved working alongside users on the problems they faced.
Source: Steve Rogowski, 'Social work with children and families: challenges and possibilities in the neo-liberal world', British Journal of Social Work, Volume 42 Number 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jul
The coalition government published a discussion paper on contact between children in care (or who had been adopted) and their birth parents. It reviewed law and practice about contact arrangements and looked at the available evidence about the impact on children and their outcomes. It set out the case for changes to the law to help ensure that contact arrangements served the best interests of children by contributing to the plan for their permanent care.
Source: Contact Arrangements for Children: A call for views, Department for Education
Links: Discussion paper | DE press release | Coram press release | WCT press release | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Jul
The Scottish Government began consultation on proposals for improving children's rights and services. Measures in the Bill included: embedding the rights of children and young people across the public sector in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child; improving the availability of high-quality, flexible, integrated early learning and childcare; and improving the rights of young people leaving care.
Source: A Scotland for Children: A consultation on the Children and Young People Bill, Scottish Government
Links: Consultation document | Scottish Government press release | Letter | COSLA press release | SNP press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-Jul
The coalition government announced a package of reforms designed to improve 'very serious weaknesses' that had left children in care at risk of sexual exploitation. The announcement followed publication of a report by the children's rights watchdog on its inquiry into sexual exploitation by gangs and groups that targeted children in care. The measures included more robust checks before children were placed in homes outside their home boroughs, and overhauling the quality and transparency of data so that there was a clear picture of children who went missing from care. The government also published a progress report on its action plan to tackle child sexual exploitation.
Source: Written Ministerial Statement 3 July 2012, columns 45-47WS, House of Commons Hansard, TSO | Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation Action Plan: Progress Report, Department for Education | Briefing for the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Education, on the Emerging Findings of the Office of the Children's Commissioner's Inquiry Into Child Sexual Exploitation in Gangs and Groups, with a Special Focus on Children in Care, Office of the Children's Commissioner
Links: Hansard | DE press release | Progress report | OCC report | OCC press release | ADCS press release | Barnardos press release | BASW press release | Childrens Society press release | Labour Party press release | BBC report | Community Care report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Jul
The first report was published from a six-year study designed to evaluate children s centres in England. 40 per cent of centres reported that cuts had been made in Session 2010–11.
Source: Emily Tanner, Maya Agur, David Hussey, and James Hall (with Pam Sammons, Kathy Sylva, Teresa Smith, Maria Evangelou, and A Flint), Evaluation of Children s Centres in England (ECCE) Strand 1: First Survey of Children s Centre Leaders in the Most Deprived Areas, Research Report RR230, Department for Education
Date: 2012-Jul
A report evaluated safeguarding children peer reviews. It said that the reviews met the global aims and objectives of local authorities, providing the necessary external scrutiny that they required. The review process was seen as a valuable mechanism for bringing partners together and helping to facilitate future partnership working.
Source: Claire Easton, Kerry Martin, and Fiona Walker, The Impact of Safeguarding Children Peer Reviews, National Foundation for Educational Research
Date: 2012-Jun
An article examined the skills required by Directors of Children's Services in England.
Source: Martin Purcell, Margaret Christian, and Nick Frost, 'Addressing the challenges of leading children's services in England: leadership in a changing environment', Journal of Children's Services, Volume 7 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jun
Researchers examined the impact of Sure Start local programmes on child and family functioning over time, by following up over 5,000 7-year-olds and their families who had initially been studied when the children were aged 9 months, 3 years, and 5 years. The results provided 'some support' for the view that government efforts to support children/families via the original area-based approach to Sure Start paid off to some degree in terms of parent outcomes, though not with regard to child outcomes. Children's centres had been found to be immensely popular with parents, and had been successful in reaching the parents who were likely to be the most disadvantaged. The beneficial effects for parents persisted at least two years after their last contact with Sure Start programmes.
Source: National Evaluation of Sure Start (NESS) Team, The Impact of Sure Start Local Programmes on Seven Year Olds and their Families, Research Report RR220, Department for Education
Date: 2012-Jun
A joint report by two all-party groups of MPs and peers said that the system was 'far from fit for purpose' for children who went missing from care. Many of these children were given care and support that fell 'dramatically short' of what should be expected and what was needed to keep them safe. The report set out a number of practical recommendations to ensure that when a child ran away from care they were provided with a genuine safety net. The key to success lay in all local agencies working together, sharing information and developing ways to help and protect vulnerable children. There should be an independent investigation into children's homes in England that were failing to manage and protect children who ran away or went missing; and a local authority performance 'scorecard' should be introduced to assess the care and protection of the 10,000 estimated to go missing from care each year.
Source: Report from the Joint Inquiry Into Children Who Go Missing from Care, All Party Parliamentary Group for Runaway and Missing Children and Adults/All Party Parliamentary Group for Looked After Children and Care Leavers
Links: Report | Childrens Society press release | DE press release | ADCS press release | Childrens Commissioner press release | Labour Party press release | LGA press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-Jun
The government began consultation on revised and simplified guidance on child protection in England. It said that it wanted to create a culture that placed trust in health, social care and other professionals, and ensured that they were not 'hampered by unnecessary rules and targets'.
Source: Consultation on Revised Safeguarding Statutory Guidance, Department for Education | Managing Individual Cases: The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families, Department for Education | Statutory Guidance on Learning and Improvement, Department for Education
Links: Consultation document (1) | Impact assessment (1) | Consultation document (2) | Impact assessment (2) | Consultation document (3) | Impact assessment (3) | Hansard | DE press release | BBC report | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Jun
A report outlined the elements of an effective local response to child sexual exploitation. It suggested how local authorities and other stakeholders could tackle abuse, and the advantages of partnership working and information sharing. It said that children's care homes were particularly attractive to abusers.
Source: Caroline Paskell, Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation: Helping local authorities to develop effective responses, Barnardo's
Links: Report | Barnardos press release | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Jun
An article said that young people who had spent all or part of their childhoods in public care were at particular risk of social exclusion as adults: and yet the pathway out of exclusion identified by policy-makers at both European and national levels – education – was very difficult to access. Using data from a five-country study of the post-compulsory educational pathways of young people in public care, the authors examined the rates of participation of young people in further and higher education, looking at two factors: the impact of background social class on educational support, and the educational intentions and practices of the care system.
Source: Claire Cameron, Sonia Jackson, Hanan Hauari, and Katie Hollingworth, 'Continuing educational participation among children in care in five countries: some issues of social class', Journal of Education Policy, Volume 14 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
A progress report was published on implementation of the recommendations in an independent review of the child protection system in England.
Source: Eileen Munro, Progress Report: Moving Towards a Child Centred System, Department for Education
Links: Report | DE press release | Action for Children press release | ADCS press release | Barnardos press release | BASW press release | Community Care report
Date: 2012-May
A report by a committee of MSPs said that children in care were lagging behind their classmates to an 'unacceptable' degree.
Source: The Educational Attainment of Looked After Children, 6th Report 2012, SP Paper 140, Scottish Parliament Education and Culture Committee
Links: Report | Scottish Parliament press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-May
The coalition government published a discussion paper on increasing parental and community involvement in Sure Start children's centres.
Source: Increasing Parental and Community Involvement in Sure Start Children s Centres, Department for Education
Links: Paper | 4Children press release
Date: 2012-May
A study examined the costs and impact of the common assessment framework (CAF). Both professionals using the CAF and families who had been assessed using it had a positive view of certain aspects of it. However, for CAF to work effectively substantial investment was required, both in terms of expenditure and time to embed the framework in practice across the range of agencies.
Source: Lisa Holmes, Samantha McDermid, Matthew Padley, and Jean Soper, Exploration of the Costs and Impact of the Common Assessment Framework, Research Report RR210, Department for Education
Notes: The common assessment framework is a standardized approach to the assessment of children and their families, designed to facilitate the early identification of additional needs and to promote a co-ordinated service response.
Date: 2012-May
A report by a committee of MPs said that the system for checking school spending in England was not robust enough. It was not clear how responsibility for ensuring value for money was divided up, particularly in the light of greater fragmentation and diversity in the schools system.
Source: Accountability and Oversight of Education and Children's Services, Eighty-Second Report (Session 2012-13), HC 1957, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | NUT press release | BBC report | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-May
An inspectorate report compared the views of young people leaving care with those leaving residential education. Whichever setting they were leaving, young people were anxious about how they would cope when they lost the security, structure, and support that they had been used to. Although many had learned everyday domestic skills, young people, particularly those leaving care, said that they needed more training in practicalities such as cooking, washing, and cleaning.
Source: Learning Independence: Views of care leavers, students in residential further education and boarders in boarding schools on moving on to independent adult life, Children s Rights Director for England/Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Report | OFSTED press release
Date: 2012-May
A report examined the issues around children returning home from care. It looked at how to address the problems of reunification, and outlined new approaches to support children returning home from care and to protect them from harm. Around one-half of children who went into care because of abuse or neglect suffered further abuse if they returned home, with up to one-half of those returning to care.
Source: Returning Home from Care: What's best for children, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Apr
A survey found that children's centres had a key role in empowering communities to meet their own needs. They provided a 'space' in areas of social deprivation for children, young people, and their families to reflect on their own mental health and well-being without judgement. All children's centres were located in areas of high deprivation and were well placed to meet the needs of the communities. Recent investment had ensured that there were sites (often purpose-built buildings) located in areas of need. Instead of wasting this valuable resource, there was an opportunity to use it to deliver early interventions by people who understood local needs. However, the quality of actual early intervention programmes varied widely: although every centre surveyed was involved in delivering programmes, only 13 per cent of these programmes were evidence-based.
Source: Louise Jackson, Securing Standards, Sustaining Success: Report on early intervention, National Education Trust
Links: Report | Nursery World report
Date: 2012-Apr
A study found that independent social work reports added considerable value in complex family cases, and led to better decision-making for children – challenging the perception that the reports caused delay and duplicated local authority work. It found that the reports provided mostly high quality, transparent, forensic, and evidenced-based assessments.
Source: Julia Brophy, Charlie Owen, Judith Sidaway, and Jagbir Jhutti Johal, The Contribution of Experts in Care Proceedings: Evaluation of independent social work reports in care proceedings, CISWA-UK (Confederation of Independent Social Work Agencies)
Links: Report | Summary | CISWA press release | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Apr
A report called for central government departments to develop a more coherent overall approach to the needs of care leavers. Departments should make a commitment to 'care-proof' all government policies by assessing the impact that they would have on looked-after children, care leavers, and those who supported them.
Source: Access All Areas: Action for all government departments to support young people s journey from care to adulthood, Catch22
Links: Report | Catch22 press release
Date: 2012-Apr
A report examined the use of performance tables relating to leaving care. It identified a series of limitations of the official performance tables, including: being based on limited cohorts; measuring a small number of young people in each authority; problems with inaccuracies in the data; differences in reporting; specific issues with young people with additional support needs; and lack of comparative data.
Source: Linda Briheim-Crookall, Does It Stack Up? Measuring performance in leaving care, National Care Advisory Service
Links: Report | NCAS press release
Date: 2012-Apr
The children's rights watchdog in Wales said that some of the most vulnerable children and young people were unaware of their statutory right to an independent professional 'voice', due to a system that lacked a clear set of checks and balances.
Source: Missing Voices: A review of independent professional advocacy services for looked after children and young people, care leavers and children in need in Wales, Children's Commissioner for Wales
Links: Report | CCW press release
Date: 2012-Mar
Researchers examined the framework and tools used for assessing/analyzing data about the likelihood of significant harm to children.
Source: Jane Barlow, Joanne Fisher, and David Jones, Systematic Review of Models of Analysing Significant Harm, Research Report RR199, Department for Education
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Mar
A survey for the children's services inspectorate found that 48 per cent of children leaving local authority care believed that this happened too early. 49 per cent said that they had been very badly prepared, and would have liked more support with practical issues – such as money management, and how to obtain and use documents such as passports and national insurance cards.
Source: After Care: Young people s views on leaving care, Children s Rights Director (Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills)
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | Barnardos press release | Labour Party press release | Guardian report | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Mar
An article reported the results of a systematic review designed to identify and synthesize evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to improve access to services for looked-after children and young people.
Source: Roy Jones, Emma Everson-Hock, Louise Guillaume, Janet Clapton, Elizabeth Goyder, Jim Chilcott, Nick Payne, Alejandra Duenas, Linda Sheppard, and Catherine Swann, 'The effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving access to health and mental health services for looked-after children and young people: a systematic review', Families, Relationships and Societies, Volume 1 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Mar
A study examined the suitability of a range of possible national measures for a 'payment by results' trial for children's centres.
Source: Ivana La Valle, Jennifer Gibb, Bernadetta Brzyska, Ben Durbin, Caroline Sharp, Helen Aston, and Simon Rutt, Feasibility Study for the Trials of Payment by Results for Children's Centres, National Children s Bureau/National Foundation for Educational Research
Links: Report | NCB press release
Date: 2012-Mar
Researchers examined the nature of children s residential homes and the young people who lived in them. Residents could be very challenging, and most homes accommodated a diverse group, including emergency- and longer-stay admissions: despite this, staff had low levels of professional qualifications. Short-term outcomes for residents were mixed, including offending and engaging in risky behaviour. Only about one-half of the homes provided a consistently warm and caring environment: nonetheless, young people were mainly complimentary about the residential experience, spoke positively about staff, and found them supportive.
Source: David Berridge, Nina Biehal, and Lorna Henry, Living in Children's Residential Homes, Research Report RR201, Department for Education
Date: 2012-Mar
A new book examined issues within policy, law, theory, and research related to social work with children and families.
Source: Martin Brett Davies (ed.), Social Work with Children and Families, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Mar
An article examined the approach of children's centre managers to preventive interventions. It said that there was 'considerable divergence' in their views, and highlighted the implications of this for higher-need families.
Source: Michael Sheppard, 'Preventive orientations in children's centres: a study of centre managers', British Journal of Social Work, Volume 42 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Mar
An article examined recent developments and debates in relation to child protection policy and practice in advanced western societies, with particular reference to England. It considered why the profession of social work was continually subject to criticism in child protection work but, at the same time, continued to be entrusted with playing the central role in it. A major reason for this was that social work played a key role in 'governing the family'. Although it was important that children were protected from harm, it was also important that the privacy of the family was not undermined. Social work expertise was key to maintaining this fine balance and mediating between the various tensions involved.
Source: Nigel Parton, 'Reflections on "governing the family": the close relationship between child protection and social work in advanced western societies – the example of England', Families, Relationships and Societies, Volume 1 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Mar
A report said that key government policies intended to support looked-after children's participation in further and higher education were failing to make an impact, because a fragmentary, localist approach was confusing to young people and the professionals who worked with them.
Source: Open Doors, Open Minds, Who Cares? Trust
Links: Report | WCT press release | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Mar
An article examined recent research relating to family engagement strategies in child welfare, and the ways in which family involvement in decision-making could be incorporated into emerging protective practices.
Source: Kate Morris and Marie Connolly, 'Family decision making in child welfare: challenges in developing a knowledge base for practice', Child Abuse Review, Volume 21 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
Researchers evaluated a programme designed to enable young people who had 'established familial relationships' with their foster carers to remain in their placement until the age of 21. A range of benefits of 'staying put' was highlighted, including the fact that it empowered young people and gave them greater control of the timing of their transition from care to independence. Young people who stayed put were more than twice as likely to be in full-time education at 19 compared with those who did not (55 per cent and 22 per cent respectively).
Source: Emily Munro, Clare Lushey, Debi Maskell-Graham, and Harriet Ward (with Lisa Holmes), Evaluation of the Staying Put: 18 Plus Family Placement Programme: Final report, Research Report RR191, Department for Education
Links: Report | Brief | Peer Research Report | Catch22 press release
Date: 2012-Feb
A new book examined the impact of the Munro Review (2011) on child protection, and the coalition government's response to it. It looked at how effective Local Safeguarding Children Boards were in providing the necessary scrutiny to ensure that children were safe; how the early offer of help at local level might reduce the numbers of children at the critical end of the spectrum; and whether reducing regulation from the centre would result in better outcomes for the most vulnerable.
Source: Maggie Blyth and Enver Solomon (eds.), Effective Safeguarding for Children and Young People: What next after Munro?, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Feb
An article reviewed research about child abuse, child protection, and disabled children published in academic journals between 1996 and 2009. In Britain, little was known about what happened to disabled children who had been abused and how well safeguarding services addressed their needs. Very few studies had sought disabled children's own accounts of abuse or safeguarding.
Source: Kirsten Stalker and Katherine McArthur, 'Child abuse, child protection and disabled children: a review of recent research', Child Abuse Review, Volume 21 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
An article examined the engagement of men in the child protection system in England, based on a study of 40 child protection case files. The study found high levels of violence in the cases, and that domestic violence was the most common reason for convening an initial child protection meeting. Men were found to be much less engaged in the child protection process than women, domestic violence was underplayed, and little attention was paid to men's practical caring skills.
Source: Polly Baynes and Sally Holland, 'Social work with violent men: a child protection file study in an English local authority', Child Abuse Review, Volume 21 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
A survey found that just over half (55 per cent) of children in care in England in 2011 said that they had only been given one week or less notice before they had last been moved to live in a different placement. 23 per cent reported that they had been given no notice at all of their last move, and had been told on the same day they moved.
Source: Children s Care Monitor 2011, Children's Rights Director (Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills)
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | BASW press release | Fostering Network press release | BBC report | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Feb
The inspectorate for education and children's services examined how senior managers in 14 local authorities provided support to their frontline staff working in child protection. Social workers who were supported by 'accessible' and 'visible' senior managers improved outcomes for children.
Source: High Expectations, High Support and High Challenge: Protecting children more effectively through better support for front-line social work practice, HMI 110120, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Report | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Feb
A new book examined policy, theory, research, and practice relevant to working with children in a wide range of contexts.
Source: Malcolm Hill, George Head, Andrew Lockyer, Barbara Reid, and Raymond Taylor, Children's Services: Working Together, Pearson Education
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Jan
An article used Sure Start as a case study to explore the reasons why large-scale, complex, national initiatives often failed to adequately evidence the impact of their work. It explored a range of structural, cultural, methodological, and practical factors that had acted to inhibit effective evaluation of the impact of the initiative.
Source: Nigel Lloyd and Louise Harrington, 'The challenges to effective outcome evaluation of a national, multi-agency initiative: the experience of Sure Start', Evaluation: The International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, Volume 18 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jan
The Welsh Government began consultation on proposals to replace the serious case review system with 'child practice reviews'. Under the proposed framework, the type of review undertaken would depend on the incident and circumstances of the child.
Source: Protecting Children in Wales: Arrangements for Multi-Agency Child Practice Reviews – Draft guidance, Welsh Government
Links: Consultation document
Date: 2012-Jan
A report examined the risk and resilience factors that increased or decreased the likelihood of offending by children in care. Going into care could prove effective and extremely beneficial in helping a young person deal with prior abuse and could protect against involvement in crime.
Source: Gillian Schofield, Emma Ward, Laura Biggart, Vicky Scaife, Jane Dodsworth, Birgit Larsson, Alice Haynes, and Nigel Stone, Looked After Children and Offending: Reducing risk and promoting resilience, Centre for Research on the Child and Family (University of East Anglia)/The Adolescent and Children's Trust
Links: Report | University of East Anglia press release | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Jan
The inspectorate for education and children's services published a new framework for the inspection of local authority arrangements to protect children. Inspections of child protection services in England would in future be unannounced, more intensive, and child-focused: inspectors would speak directly to children and their families for the first time.
Source: Framework for the Inspection of Local Authority Arrangements for the Protection of Children, HMI 110132, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Framework | OFSTED press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-Jan
A new book examined the issues and problems faced by children from abroad who were alone in the United Kingdom (often unaccompanied asylum-seekers, refugees, or victims of trafficking). It considered what their needs were, and how these needs should be met in order to ensure their effective safeguarding. The children concerned often received a different level of service to children who were UK citizens.
Source: Emma Kelly and Farhat Bokhari (eds.), Safeguarding Children from Abroad: Refugee, asylum seeking and trafficked children in the UK, Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Jan
A paper examined the variety of models for children's services delivery that existed in developed countries, and placed these in the context of existing United Kingdom policy and practice.
Source: Delivering Children's Services in the UK and Other Parts of the World: A short policy context, Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People's Services
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jan
A review of child neglect (the first of a new annual series) said that over one-half (51 per cent) of social workers, and over one-third of police officers (36 per cent) reported feeling 'powerless' to intervene in suspected cases of child neglect.
Source: Cheryl Burgess, Brigid Daniel, Jane Scott, Kate Mulley, David Derbyshire, and Matthew Downie, Child Neglect in 2011, Action for Children
Links: Report | Summary | Action for Children press release | Stirling University press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Jan
A think-tank report said that fostering services in England and Wales were in need of radical reform. In some instances severely disadvantaged children were waiting for over a year for a foster placement, and the life-chances for many children in the system were 'appalling'.
Source: Alice Harber and Matthew Oakley, Fostering Aspirations: Reforming the foster care system in England and Wales, Policy Exchange
Links: Report | Fostering Network press release
Date: 2012-Jan
An article summarized the research literature on children's and parents' involvement in social work decision-making. Involvement tended to be 'messy, difficult and compromised'. Different individuals or groups might have different understandings of participation and related concepts, while differences of age and disability also mediated effective user engagement.
Source: Michael Gallagher, Mark Smith, Mark Hardy, and Heather Wilkinson, 'Children and families involvement in social work decision making', Children & Society, Volume 26 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jan
A discussion paper looked at the benefits and challenges of adopting a payment-by-results approach to commissioning services for children and families in England.
Source: Payment by Results: Opportunities and Challenges for Improving Outcomes for Children, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jan