Monday, July 13, 2009

Sharp Rise in Children Referred to Social Services

No big surprise there then, though the "up to 70%" is a bit shocking, I suppose. However, it certainly won't be any surprise if the Badman Recommendations only add to the problem of mounting SW workload, as undertrained LA inspectors make over-cautious referrals of HE families just so they can cover their backs.

From Children and Young People Now:

"The number of children being referred to social services has risen by up to 70 per cent in some local authorities, the Association of Directors of Children's Services has warned.

Debbie Jones, chair of the ADCS resources and sustainability policy committee, told delegates at their annual conference that referrals have soared following the Baby P case.

She said: "I gather from colleagues that this varies anything between 15 and 20 per cent and as much as 60 or 70 per cent."

She said that it could cost up to a quarter of a million pounds each year for a child to be looked after in the care system. The price of care proceedings can be between £35,000 and £45,000 per case she added.

"This computes to a staggeringly frightening picture because at this stage we really don't know what the impact of this is," she said.

Jones also told delegates that every local authority would have to make tough choices about how to allocate budgets in the recession."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

She said that it could cost up to a quarter of a million pounds each year for a child to be looked after in the care system. The price of care proceedings can be between £35,000 and £45,000 per case she added.

And you must understand, that this money is going to private people in the 'care system' industry. There is profit in kidnapping children. The USA has the worst examples of this, and the UK is doing its best to catch up.

Firebird said...

Our council is in serious financial trouble, there are already dark muttering about Council Tax increases and that was BEFORE Baby P. I wouldn't be surprised if those 'tough choices' are going to boil down to LA staff on the ground being told NOT to refer HE children unless there's real evidence of abuse. However much NuLabour want to build up the child abuse industry local government just isn't going to have the money to pay for it and sooner or later even the most overenthusiastic EWO is going to get reined in.

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