Special Report: Cost-of-living impact on social workers, foster carers and service users
More children will go into care as a result of the cost-of-living crisis, social workers are predicting.
A survey of social workers carried out by BASW and SWU found that social workers overwhelmingly predicted vulnerable adults could die this winter, that more children would go into care, there will be a spike in domestic violence, [...]
Financial pressure is greatest challenge facing families
The most common challenge for families is worries about financial pressures and the rise in the cost of living, a Family Review by the children’s commissioner for England has found.
Children's commissioner for England Dame Rachel de SouzaThe Family Review, which is based on research from a Literature Review, a Call for Evidence, commissioned surveys [...]
Cost- of-living crisis acts as barrier to abuse victims leaving perpetrators
The cost-of-living crisis is creating further barriers for victims of domestic abuse to leave the perpetrators, the charity Refuge has warned.
73% of Refuge’s frontline staff said that the cost-of-living crisis is increasing barriers to leaving a perpetrator, and some frontline workers report that women have returned to perpetrators as they cannot afford to live [...]
Domestic abuse victims will no longer be cross-examined by alleged perpetrators
Victims of domestic abuse will no longer have to face the trauma of being cross-examined by their alleged attackers in family and civil courts, the government has announced.
Instead, a court-appointed legal professional will carry out the cross-examination to ensure that justice continues to be done fairly for both sides. Hundreds of lawyers have already [...]
Family courts domestic abuse pilot to place children’s voice at centre
A pilot scheme in family courts in Dorset and North Wales aim to boost the voice of children at every stage of the process.
The pilots will ensure that children are listened to and their views are taken into account when decisions are made about their futures. It will see children given more opportunity to [...]
Domestic abuse referrals rise
There was an average of 669 referrals a day from police to children’s services about domestic abuse in 2020-21, analysis by the NSPCC has found.
Police made almost 245,000 referrals to social services for domestic abuse, an 8% increase on the previous year, with the charity fearing this could be the tip of the iceberg.
The [...]
