Care crisis review

Just thought I’d put this up in case its of interest

This report raises strong questions about the impact of welfare reform on the number of children being taken into care.

http://www.frg.org.uk/involving-families/reforming-law-and-practice/care-crisis-review
http://www.frg.org.uk/images/Care_Crisis/Care-Crisis-Review-Factors-report-FINAL.pdf

http://www.frg.org.uk/images/Care_Crisis/CCR-FINAL.pdf

Poverty is associated with children coming into care. Levels of child poverty (which had been falling) are rising again in both England and Wales and are strongly linked to welfare reforms.
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There is evidence that, over time, early intervention services, properly targeted and of sufficient intensity, can reduce the risk of escalation to more serious problems.
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6.15 The Review found frustration, despair and anger about the detrimental impact of poverty, cuts and austerity on the lives and life chances of vulnerable families. 45 Similar sentiments were expressed about the negative impact of financial constraints on the efforts of agencies and services to support families through their hardship.
6.16 In relation to families, the Review heard and read evidence about the link between poverty and care. The point was made that it was not that poverty per se leads to care, but that poverty makes it all the more difficult for families to cope with the other stresses they were facing. On top of pressure to make income from work or benefits stretch to cover the basics of family life, there were the strains of poor housing, overcrowding, and the threat of enforced movement from family, community and familiar places. There was the constant juggling of several low-paid jobs at the same time, coping with benefit sanctions and other hostile treatment from officials, as well as meeting the expectations of children’s social care in relation to attending meetings, getting to appointments with a range of different services when transport is expensive, if available at all. Benefit and tax changes also have an impact on the ability of wider family friends to offer temporary or permanent placements to children.
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Recommendation: That the Department for Work and Pensions and the DfE lead a cross-government review, in consultation with the devolved administrations, into the impact of benefit rules and policies, and the projected effect of planned benefit reforms, on the numbers of children entering or remaining in care.