Action for Children Report: Up to 140,000 vulnerable children left without help in "revolving door" of cash-strapped services
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Charity warns up to 140,000 vulnerable children in England referred
to social care for concerns including abuse and neglect are stuck
in a ‘revolving door’ of assessment and re-referral.
Vulnerable children not at ‘crisis point’ left without help as
cash-strapped local authorities forced to shrink or abandon family
support services. Opportunities being missed to intervene early and
‘tackle root causes of abuse and neglect’....Request free trial
Up to 140,000 vulnerable children in England referred to social services by teachers, police or health professionals for concerns including abuse and neglect are not getting help because their needs fall short of the criteria for support, according to a report released today by UK charity Action for Children.
Based on a Freedom of Information (FOI) request sent to 152 local authorities, the ‘Revolving Door’ report reveals that in 2015-16, 184,500 children’s needs assessments were closed as ‘no further action’ as they did not meet the threshold for statutory services. Of these, around one in four families received early help services such as children’s centres or domestic violence programmes, leaving an estimated 140,000 children without support.¹
Sir Tony Hawkhead, chief executive of Action for Children, said: “Our report turns a spotlight on the thousands of families up and down the country who are not getting help, despite concerns having been raised about the welfare of a child.
“Social care can’t just be there for when a family is in meltdown. Every day too many children’s lives are overshadowed by drugs, alcoholism, domestic violence and neglect – a toxic recipe for all kinds of problems now and in later life.
“Punishing savings targets have given local authorities no option but to drastically shrink or abandon services, including family support, leaving large numbers of children on the fringes of social care without the help they need. We are missing opportunities to help these children and their families at an early stage.” The charity interviewed local authority staff and Action for Children family support workers about the challenges they face providing services in a climate of increasing need and reduced budgets.
One local authority manager said: “The jury is still out for children's centres. We say we’re intelligence led and evidence based – but when the evidence tells you one thing but the budgets tell you a different thing you go with the budget rather than the evidence.”
Another said: “If [a] parent is still consumed by heroin use day-in day-out, or subject to bad mental health, or offending behaviour…. ‘you stick a plaster on it’. And while you continue to just stick a plaster on it; actually it’s not going to completely recover.”
Large regional variations were found² in the numbers of children referred on to early help services after their cases were closed to social care. In Yorkshire and Humber, on average, 17 per cent of families assessed received further help, in contrast to the North West where the average was 40 per cent.
In response to the report findings, Action for Children is calling on the Government to strengthen the legal framework for early help services and provide adequate funding to local authorities so they can provide help as soon as children need it.
Sir Tony Hawkhead added: “If the Government is serious about looking after the most vulnerable children in society, it must urgently re-invest in local services that are proven to tackle the root causes of neglect and abuse – not just hope it can firefight the symptoms.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
¹ We asked local authorities:
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