Placement orders fall by half in nine months
The number of placement orders granted by judges have halved in the last nine months, government statistics have revealed.
Figures for April to June this year show that 760 orders were made, a fall of 51% compared to July to September 2013.
New placement orders fell by 900 in 2013/14 when compared to the previous year, which [...]
Child sexual exploitation is the ‘norm’, warns inquiry
Child sexual exploitation (CSE) has become a ‘social norm’ in parts of Greater Manchester and tackling it will require a “sea change” in public and professional attitudes, a report by Stockport MP Ann Coffey has warned.
In her Real Voices report, ordered by Greater Manchester police and crime commissioner following the Rochdale CSE scandal, Coffey warns [...]
ADCS past-president calls for Nice for children's services
The inaugural president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) has called for the creation of an institute for excellence in children’s services to tackle long-standing problems with child protection practice.
Writing in the latest edition of CYP Now, John Freeman, ADCS president in 2007, the organisation's first year, said an institute focused on [...]
Children living with parental alcohol abuse are being missed by system
A children's commissioner report has found social services support for alcohol abuse is failing to look beyond the impact on the individual.
Children living with parental alcohol misuse are missing out on support if their parents have not already sought treatment, according to a report by the children’s commissioner.
The report used local authority data [...]
Care planning and reviews for looked after children
Over the past 20 years research has painted a consistent picture of the difficulties in sustaining good practice in care planning and reviews for looked after children (LAC) Thomas, (2011) and Bijleveld et al. (2013).
The biggest challenges have been:
Ensuring planning and review are centred on what is best for the particular child and not [...]Care applications on the rise, Cafcass figures show
The number of care applications on the rise in September; risen by 7% year on year, Cafcass have revealed. Cafcass received a total of 902 applications last month compared to 843 the year before.
The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) received 902 applications last month compared to 843 in September [...]
