When the Care Review’s first report, The Case for Change, was published last month, social workers and leaders were quick to hit out at chair Josh MacAlister’s conclusion that child protection practice is often “too risk averse”.
“At present the system is under significant strain: more families are being investigated, more children are in care and costs are spiralling as money is increasingly spent on crisis intervention,” it states, calling for increased focus on early help for families.
This call is supported by latest analysis, commissioned by children’s charities Barnardo’s, Action for Children, NSPCC, National Children’s Bureau and The Children’s Society, which shows that council spending on early intervention services for families fell from £3.6bn in 2010 to £1.8bn in 2020.
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