A return to liberal ideals?
As children’s services face an impending financial crisis, Director of WillisPalmer, Mark Willis argues that a return to liberal ideals is the way to challenge yet more cuts
“The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, [...]
Expert's Corner: Interview with John Graham
Clare Jerrom talks to John Graham about the current challenges facing the fostering system.
Recruitment and retention of foster carers is still the critical issue facing the fostering sector, an expert in the field has warned.
John Graham, a fostering consultant, considers that a focus on the recruitment and retention of suitable foster carers will be [...]
Neglect is most common reason for NSPCC helpline calls
Neglect was the most common reason that calls were made to the NSPCC helpline, according to the children’s charity.
There were 66,218 contacts made to the NSPCC helpline in 2016/17 and 19,448 contacts were about neglect. This represented an increase of 61 per cent from five years ago, when there were 12,110 contacts about neglect in [...]
Adopter gap closed, says ALB
There are now more adoptive families than children waiting for adoption, according to the Adoption Leadership Board.
Figures from the ALB suggest that the ‘adopter gap’ has closed, however, there were still 1,770 children with a placement order not yet matched.
The number of children adopted from care has fallen slightly from 1070 in the first quarter [...]
Special report: The state of children’s services
Recent reports into the state of children’s services have highlighted the loss of early help and preventive services, and how this is contributing to more children in need falling through our supposed safety net, BASW has warned.
In July, the Children’s Commissioner for England published for the first time a report into the scale of vulnerability [...]
DfE seeks contractor to deliver accreditation of social workers
The accreditation of social workers is set to cost £3.5m, it has emerged.
The Department for Education has put out a contract for the accreditation of social workers and estimated that the value of the contract is £3.5m.
The contractor will be required to deliver the accreditation and assessment system for children and family social workers in [...]
