Father paid £1,100 following procedural failings which excluded him from child protection process
Gloucestershire Council has paid a man £1,100 after “procedural failings” resulted in him being unfairly excluded from the child protection process regarding his son.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found the Council’s judgement about the level of risk Mr F presented to his child was based on procedural failings.
Mr F bought the complaint [...]
Fears raised for young people with substance abuse problems as cuts affect access to support
Young people needing treatment for drug and alcohol addictions are left struggling to access services after the budgets for treatment have been reduced by a third, the Royal College of Psychiatrists has warned.
New analysis by the Royal College of Psychiatrists shows £26m – or 37% - in real terms has been cut from youth addiction [...]
One in 10 17-year-old has tried hard drugs
One in 17-year-olds have tried hard drugs such as cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine, research by UCL has found.
The study, which explores engagement in substance use and antisocial behaviours among Generation Z as they reached late adolescence, found that one third of 17 year olds had tried cannabis with one in 10 trying harder drugs. More [...]
Addiction services unable to cope as heavy drinking rises during COVID pandemic
Soaring numbers of people drinking riskily during the COVID-19 pandemic has left addiction services ill equipped to provide treatment and support, the Royal College of Psychiatrists has warned.
The College’s new analysis of Public Health England’s latest data on the indirect effects of Covid-19 found that over 8.4 million people are now drinking at higher risk, [...]
Funding for children of alcohol-dependent parents is insufficient
Council leaders have warned that the government funding to help the children of alcoholic parents does not go far enough.
Secretary for Health and Social Care Jeremy Hunt revealed a package of measured designed to help the estimated 200,000 children and young people living with an alcohol-dependent parent, backed with £6m of funding.
However, the Local Government [...]
Expert's Corner: Nigel Radcliffe
Interview with Nigel Radcliffe, ISW and expert in substance misuse and child protection
Local authority social workers are too busy fire-fighting crises in under-resourced social services departments to develop any kind of expertise, a substance misuse expert has warned.
Child protection social workers encountering families with drug and alcohol problems could do “much better” if they [...]
