The introduction of the Children and Families Act last month was the culmination of nearly two years of policy development, political wrangling and tireless campaigning.
From the launch of the bill in February 2013, the government was clear that the bulk of the measures would aim to tackle deficiencies in the care and education of some of the most vulnerable groups of children and young people.
Reforms to adoption procedures, special educational needs and the care system underpin many of the provisions.
However, while the scope of the bill remained largely the same over its 13-month passage through the parliamentary process, a number of headline-grabbing initiatives made it into the act that were not originally envisaged. The inclusion of free school meals for all infant-aged pupils was a major policy success for the Liberal Democrats, while the banning of smoking in cars gained cross-party support.
Meanwhile, calls from children's charities for the bill to provide better support for young carers and to allow fostered children to stay with carers up to the age of 21 were listened to by the government.
Despite these developments, the act still has its critics - some feel its narrow focus represents a missed opportunity; others are worried it places additional unfunded responsibilities on councils.
With guidance still to come on how the act's provisions will be implemented in practice, CYP Now examines what the act will mean for professionals and services, and assesses what the main unresolved issues are.
- By Derren Hayes, Laura McCardle and Neil Puffett
Family justice
What is happening?
A number of provisions in the act are intended to create a more efficient and effective family justice system, in turn improving the experiences of children and families who go to court. Specifically, the act:
Introduces a maximum 26-week time limit (six months) for completing care and supervision proceedings in the family court.
Ensures that expert evidence in family proceedings concerning children is permitted only when necessary to resolve the case, taking account of factors including the impact on the welfare of the child.
Makes it a requirement for separating parents to attend a family mediation, information and assessment meeting to find out about, and consider, mediation before taking a decision to go to court.
Introduces a requirement on courts to take the view that should parents separate, both should continue to be involved in their children's lives where it is safe and in the child's best interests.
Who will it affect?
In order for the 26-week target to be met, children's social workers will have to produce higher quality initial assessments to ensure cases are ready to proceed quickly from the off. Both they and local authority lawyers will be required to produce a more analytical summary rather than producing large files in support of applications. Cafcass guardians, who represent the interests of the child, will be involved in cases at an earlier stage of the process. The hope is that by cutting out delays, more children can be found a permanent home quickly, preventing potential harm to their development or exposing them to more risk.
Implications for practice
The introduction of a 26-week limit has wide-ranging implications despite the system having prepared for the new timescales for some time.
The judiciary has spent the past 18 months pushing through technical changes to the way proceedings work to assist efforts to meet the new target. Since last July, the number of hearings required in cases was cut and a timetable of 26 weeks was introduced for all cases.
Greater emphasis is now being placed on the first hearing - the case management hearing - with an expectation that assessments will be of a higher standard, meaning second opinions will not be required.
Meanwhile, the changes in relation to expert evidence formalise changes that were already in effect in courts since January last year when family procedure rules were amended to raise the bar for decisions on whether expert evidence was required in cases.
The old test of whether expert evidence was "reasonably required" was replaced with a new test of whether an expert is "necessary", something that is now backed up in legislation.
Unresolved issues
Concerns have been expressed that local authorities will struggle to meet the target. Statistics released by the Ministry of Justice in December show that in the three months between April and June last year, the average duration of care proceedings was 40.8 weeks. The figure has been falling each quarter since the end of 2011 when it stood at 54.6 weeks, but is still well above the new 26-week limit.
Some areas are likely to face more difficulty in hitting the new target than others. Between April and June last year, London was one of 10 English areas that had average case times of more than 50 weeks. It has been claimed that areas such as London face specific pressures that will make meeting the target harder. These include difficulty in recruiting and retaining experienced and skilled social workers, and pressure on courts.
The legislation does allow for the possibility of extending the time limit in a particular case for up to eight weeks at a time, but it is unclear how often this will be used by judges.
When deciding whether to grant an extension, the court must consider the impact that any timetable revision would have on the welfare of the child. The legislation also sets out that "extensions are not to be granted routinely" and "are to be seen as requiring specific justification". l
Free school meals
What is happening?
From September, all children in reception and years 1 and 2 will be provided with a free school meal.
The scheme, announced by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in September last year, was originally designed for the provision of a free hot meal for disadvantaged fiveto seven-year-olds whose parents received state-funded benefits such as income support or jobseeker's allowance from this September until July 2016.
But an amendment to the bill, put forward in the House of Lords in January, expanded the offer by placing a legal duty on all primary schools to provide free school meals to all infant-aged children.
The new legislation also removes the date cut-off point and includes a new power that will allow schools to extend the offer to older children in the future.
The government has allocated £419m in 2014/15 and £590m in 2015/16 to fund the policy, with schools receiving £2.30 for every meal served to a pupil.
Who does it affect?
The new policy will have a huge impact on primary schools, particularly smaller ones with more compact kitchens.
To deal with this, the government has set aside £150m for schools to improve their kitchen and dining facilities.
In addition, the government will provide a further £22.5m to help smaller schools prepare for the offer, with each school receiving at least £3,000.
Implications for practice
Schools will have to ensure that their kitchen and dining facilities are fully equipped to prepare and deliver meals by September.
But some, including Clegg himself, fear that a number of schools will not be in a position to deliver the offer due to the short timescale between the policy being announced and the date set for implementation.
"What we're concerned about is the timescale under which it has been brought in," says Valentine Mulholland, policy adviser at the National Association of Head Teachers.
"We've been working with the government since it was announced to push them to provide more support and we've had some wins.
"The first big win is the concession that the offer can be delivered by a packed lunch under the nutritional standard [if their kitchen facilities are not ready by September].
"The government has been very low key about it because it's not what they aspire to - and it's not what we aspire to - but we have to be realistic that in some schools it's just not going to be possible by September."
Mulholland is also concerned that the funding allocated to help schools prepare for the policy will not be enough to cover building works.
"The capital funding has been distributed to all local authorities based on pupil numbers, rather than looking at where schools need it the most," she says.
"It's probably not enough for some local authorities and in some they may even spend that money on other things because it hasn't been ringfenced.
"In local authorities where none of their schools have kitchens, that's not going to be enough - it's probably enough to do up [only] a couple of schools."
Unresolved issues
In addition to concerns about the amount of government funding invested in helping schools to prepare for the policy, questions have been raised about the amount of money allocated to fund the provision of free schools meals outright.
A recent analysis of a pilot initiative in 294 primary schools in Newham and Durham - where 54,000 pupils were offered free school meals between 2009 and 2011 - found variations in the cost of each additional meal.
The study, carried out by the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the University of Warwick, shows that the cost of each meal ranged from £1.90 to £2.60, meaning that some schools will receive more than it costs to provide a meal (£2.30), while others will receive less.
Councillor David Simmonds, chair of the Local Government Association children and young people board, says funding is just one element of the policy to be concerned about.
"The picture is quite mixed," he says.
"There seems to be two big issues. One, I don't think the government has published its updated guidance on nutrition in schools, and a lot of schools and local authorities are asking about that. It was due to be published in February.
"The second big issue concerns the clarity about additional capital funding and whether a hot meal is required or not.
"It feels like the people behind it haven't really thought it through or thought about the practicalities of implementation."
A DfE spokeswoman says a consultation on the guidance is ongoing and that schools will be able to seek support and advice about the policy from the Children's Food Trust via a new national helpline.
Free school meals in numbers
£1.09bn - government funding of free school meals for 2014-16
£2.30 - fee for every meal served per pupil
£172m - funding to improve school kitchen facilities
1.55m - Number of pupils to receive meals from September 2014
Source: DfE
Childcare and early years
What is happening?
The new legislation makes few changes to current childcare policy, but the reforms do allow for the introduction of two key measures:
From September, childminders will be able to sign up to local childminder agencies, which have been designed to support childminders with training and business advice, while making it easier for parents to access home-based childcare. Each agency will be inspected and regulated by Ofsted, but individual childminders who join an agency will have the choice of whether to register with the inspectorate.
Childcare providers will be able to request and pay for Ofsted to carry out an inspection of them at any time. The government and Ofsted are yet to set a date for when paid-for inspections at the request of childcare providers will be implemented.
Who does it affect?
The reforms to childcare policy will have an impact mostly on childminders and other childcare providers, but neither is required to work under the new provisions and their decision to adopt the new policies is entirely optional.
Implications for practice
The Department for Education is yet to publish guidance on childminder agencies, so little is known about how they will work in practice.
The new arrangements are being tested by 20 organisations - mostly local authorities - but evaluation of the scheme has yet to be published.
However, the DfE states that the purpose of agencies is to provide support and business advice to individual childminders in a bid to improve the quality of childcare.
The implications of paid-for inspections are a little clearer. Childcare providers will be able to request inspections at any time, giving them an opportunity to make swift improvements and restore their reputation should they be downgraded by Ofsted or receive a disappointing judgment.
Unresolved issues
Childminder agencies have been a topic of concern for early years professionals since the idea was put forward in the More Great Childcare report in January 2013, with the absence of any clear-cut information about the initiative only adding to their doubts.
The biggest area of concern among the sector is Ofsted's proposed inspection arrangements, which make registration with the inspectorate optional for individual childminders who sign up to agencies.
Ofsted has consulted on its proposed framework for inspecting agencies and testing its draft arrangements on the 20 organisations taking part in the government trial.
The findings of both the consultation and the trial inspections are expected to be published in the spring.
Liz Bayram, chief executive of the Professional Association for Childcare and the Early Years (Pacey), has been against childminder agencies from the very beginning and has particular reservations about how they will be regulated.
"Pacey remains firmly opposed to childminder agencies and does not believe they will improve the quality of childcare children receive," she says.
"We believe individual childminder inspection is the best way to ensure quality for children and to demonstrate quality to parents. That said, agencies are now established in law, so it is vital the regulation and inspection framework that will govern them is robust.
"Pacey is focused on ensuring this framework, now being by finalised by the government and Ofsted, supports quality, safe childcare for children and that it ensures any childminder who chooses to join an agency receives effective support services."
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, shares a similar concern.
"While we accept that these latest changes now place childminder agencies permanently into the landscape of early years provision, we remain concerned about the potential safeguarding implication of plans to focus on inspecting agencies rather than individual childminders," he explains.
"Finally, we ask that childminders are supported and given choice about how they operate in the new environment. The alliance believes that they should freely exercise their right under the latest legislation to join an agency without pressure or disadvantage."
The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) has campaigned for the introduction of paid-for inspections for some time. Purnima Tanuku, the organisation's chief executive, welcomes the fact that the act makes them possibile, but is concerned about the lack of an official date for implementation.
"NDNA has fought a long campaign to make paid-for inspections available to early years providers," she says.
"Now, finally, the act has made it a legal possibility and we would like to see them implemented as a matter of urgency.
"We believe providers being able to pay for an inspection rather than having to wait sometimes for months will encourage settings to make swift improvements and reduce the long-term negative impact a downgrade can have on the business.
"Focusing funding on 'good' or 'outstanding' settings gives early years providers a very strong incentive to deliver the high-quality childcare Ofsted is looking for and they should be given every assistance they can to achieve this."
An Ofsted spokesman has said the inspectorate is looking at ways of taking the policy forward.
Adoption
What is happening?
The Children and Families Act has ushered in a raft of changes to the adoption system, placing into law elements of the government's action plan on adoption designed to get more children adopted with less delay. These are:
Removal of the requirement for due consideration to be given to the ethnicity of a child when making a placement.
Changing contact rules making it easier for courts to decide whether adopted children should see their relatives.
Handing the Education Secretary powers to strip councils of their responsibility for recruiting prospective adopters.
Allowing prospective adopters to search the Adoption Register.
Giving local authorities a duty to provide information on adoption support to adoptive parents and prospective adopters.
Local authorities will have to provide adoption support through personal budget payments if asked to do so.
Who does it affect?
The changes will mainly affect local authorities in terms of their requirement to provide information and support to adoptive parents, and the way they place children. Courts will also have a greater role to play in deciding who adopted children should be able to see.
Implications for practice
The introduction of personal budgets will have major implications for practice.
Although the legislation governing them will not come into effect until April 2015, Hugh Thornbery, chief executive of Adoption UK, says authorities will need to prepare for the changes in advance.
The new measures will mean that adoptive parents will get to choose how they spend support money passed to them directly by local authorities.
Trials of the new arrangements will see 10 local authorities use a new assessment tool to better identify the needs of young people who have been adopted.
"That has significant practice implications for the adoption social work workforce and those working in child and adolescent mental health services in order to conduct an integrated assessment that is able to pick up on quite complex conditions," Thornbery says.
"One of the things we are aware of is very often it is the case that the conditions that adopted children experience can be misdiagnosed, because they are often multiple and complex.
"Sometimes the type of support provided is not the right type of therapeutic support. The quality of the assessment is critical."
Thornbery says there is also a broader workforce issue around understanding the impact early childhood trauma has on children, and how it affects them as they grow up.
"From surveys we have done, the feedback is that when adopters ask for help, there is not full recognition given to the child's start in life," he says.
"There is almost an issue of social workers thinking that if the child is exhibiting difficulties in the teenage years, it is probably as a result of their adoptive parents' failure to parent well. But it can be the effects of abuse in early life.
"Adoptive parents sometimes hold off asking for help until a late stage because it is seen more as a child protection issue than an adoption support issue."
The duty to inform adopters of their entitlement to assessment and support will also have implications for authorities in terms of the way they communicate with and provide information to adoptive parents and prospective adopters. Currently, authorities only have to provide information if requested.
Thornbery says research by his organisation found that 50 per cent of adopters were not aware of their right to an assessment for support.
Unresolved issues
The main unresolved issue is how the introduction of personal budgets for adoption support will fare. Plans to implement similar personal budgets for children with special educational needs have already been delayed, with the trials flagging up a number of issues around re-writing materials, retraining staff and putting new systems in place.
The trials also found that there was an issue over whether parents who choose to buy therapy services would end up paying more than local authorities.
"There are a number of unanswered questions on personal budgets that we need time to work through," Thornbery says.
It is also unclear to what extent the government intends to make use of powers to strip local authorities of their role in the adoption process if they fail to deliver results.
Following opposition to the plans, the government amended the Children and Families Bill, so that the Education Secretary will need the approval of both houses of parliament to strip all local authorities of their powers.
However, this consent will not be required if the decision is taken to strip "one or more" named authorities of their powers.
Parental support
What is happening?
The act includes a range of measures designed to help new parents - including adopters - better balance their work and home life. In particular, these include:
From April 2015, mothers, fathers and adopters can opt to share parental leave around their child's birth or placement.
Fathers and a mother's partner can take up to a year, or parents can take several months at the same time.
From October 2014, prospective fathers or a mother's partner can take time off unpaid to attend up to two antenatal appointments.
From April 2015, adoption leave and pay will reflect entitlements available to birth parents: no qualifying period for leave; enhanced pay to 90 per cent of salary for the first six weeks; and time off to attend introductory appointments.
Intended parents in surrogacy and "foster to adopt" arrangements will also qualify for adoption leave and pay.
From 30 June 2014, the right to request flexible working to fit around childcare commitments will be extended to all employees.
The current statutory procedure through which employers consider flexible working requests will be replaced with a duty on employers to consider requests in a "reasonable" manner.
Who does it affect?
The act's provisions in this area aim to create a culture change in the way parents balance the responsibilities of parenthood and work.
A number of the measures are aimed at getting fathers more involved in antenatal care and the first few months of their child's life, and later on when fitting work commitments around the confines of the school day or nursery care.
Jenny Willott, employment relations minister, says: "Current workplace arrangements have not kept up with the times. The act will bring the way new parents balance their working and home lives into the 21st century.
"By enabling any employee to request to work flexibly, we want to remove any cultural assumption that flexible working is only for women, or just for parents and carers. We want these reforms to bring about a culture change in Britain's workplaces, allowing everyone to better balance work with their personal life in the way that works for them."
There is little in the act that should change the way social workers support adopters and prospective adopters. But extension of adoption leave and pay to the level that other new parents receive should give added assurance and stability in the crucial first months of a child's placement.
Implications for practice
A recent report by education foundation The Sutton Trust highlighted the benefits of extending maternity leave from 18 weeks to a full year, with nine months paid, for cementing child-parent bonds - with average leave taken by new mothers rising to 39 weeks.
The trust's Baby Bonds report also suggests a rise in breast-feeding rates could be attributed to longer maternity leave.
"Given all we know about the factors that threaten good early parenting and secure attachment, it is clear that a broad range of policies for families with young children could help prevent insecure attachment. Such policies are a 'win-win' - they are likely to benefit children and families' health and broader wellbeing, and help to improve early parenting and attachment," the report adds.
One of the report authors, Sophie Moullin, a social policy expert at Princeton University in the US, explains that allowing couples to share parenting leave, or for fathers to take on the bulk of it in the first year, could add to these benefits.
"Babies will securely attach to whoever provides them with consistent, warm, responsive care. That could be the father or an adoptive parent.
"It is being attached to one parent that really matters for children. So, for example, if mum is depressed or really struggling, having an involved, caring dad will become even more important.
"Allowing fathers to spend more time with their babies could reduce the pressures on both parents, and so help provide the conditions for secure attachment. And some research links attachment to dads specifically to boys' behaviour as teenagers."
The need to forge strong bonds with children is even more pronounced for parents who are adopting.
Srabani Sen, chief executive of the British Association for Adoption and Fostering, says the improvements to adoption support are therefore "a very positive development".
She adds: "When you adopt a child, it's a very different experience: you need time to bring the child into the family. Many of these children will have had difficult experiences in earlier life.
"Adopting a child is a huge decision and an intense process; it is crucial to provide these prospective parents with as much time as possible to make these critical decisions."
Unresolved issues
The Baby Bonds study found that even a short period of paternity leave is associated with greater paternal involvement with the baby. But a separate study by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) has revealed that a quarter of new fathers took no paternity leave at all, while fewer than one in 10 took more than their two weeks statutory leave.
The ILM blamed "ingrained" attitudes among employers and concerns among new fathers that they could not afford to take leave. Overcoming this employment culture will be a major stumbling block to the reforms having their desired impact.
Chris Cuthbert, NSPCC lead for babies, says: "If we want fathers to play an increasing role in childcare and supporting new mums, we have to meet them halfway and give decent paternity leave.
"This isn't just about legal entitlements, it's also about an attitude in the workplace that recognises that childcare and work-life balance are not just issues for mothers."
Barbara McIntosh, head of children and young people's programmes at the Mental Health Foundation, agrees the culture of the workplace is crucial. "If you're disadvantaged career-wise for taking time off, then people won't take time off."
Under the act, the self-employed do not get the same level of support, an issue Adoption UK has raised with government departments. Its chief executive Hugh Thornbery says: "Self-employed adopters still pay taxes and national insurance, but they are not going to get the same benefits."
The costs of insecure attachment
Around one in four children avoid their parents when they are upset, because they ignore their needs
A further 15 per cent resist their parents because they cause them distress
40 per cent are insecurely attached
15 per cent of children - rising to 25 per cent in disadvantaged groups - learn to resist the parent, because the parent often amplifies their distress or responds unpredictably
Source: Baby Bonds report, The Sutton Trust
Special educational needs
What is happening?
A number of changes will come into effect this September, radically overhauling the system in a bid to improve access to good quality support for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN).
New education, health and care (EHC) plans will be introduced to co-ordinate support for all children and young people aged up to 25, replacing statements of SEN.
To support this, children and young people with SEN, and their families, will be offered personal budgets to carry out their EHC plans, giving them greater control over the care and support they need.
The new legislation also requires councils to publish a "local offer" containing details of all the support available to disabled children and young people and their families in the area - not just those with SEN.
Who does it affect?
It is the families of children and young people with SEN and local authorities who will be affected the most by the reforms, with both having to change their approach to support services.
To ensure a smooth transition between the previous policy and the new one, the government has set aside two different pots of funding to support families and local authorities through the reforms.
It has earmarked £30m to recruit and train 1,800 independent advocates from the voluntary, community and private sectors to help families navigate the new process. They will also advise families on how to challenge decisions made by councils on funding and services.
All 152 local authorities will receive a share of £70m to put in place the service infrastructure to implement the reforms.
In addition, professionals working with children and young people with SEN will have to adhere to a new code of practice from September.
Implications for practice
Professionals working with children and young people with SEN have less than six months to understand and work in line with guidance set out in the new code of practice - but this is currently still in draft form only.
It was published last October before the Department for Education held a public consultation on its details until last December.
In addition, the reforms in the act have been shaped by the experiences of the 20 SEN pathfinders, which were set up in 2012 and will continue until September.
Initial findings from the pathfinders suggest that the changes will impact positively on families and professionals, with both reporting advantages to working differently and families experiencing greater choice and control over the support they receive.
However, the interim evaluation, published last June, reveals that the take-up of personal budgets was slow, which the DfE attributed to the "challenges and complexities" of developing a robust process.
The DfE is analysing the feedback collected during the consultation and preparing its response. But some charities say drastic changes need to be made to the code of practice before it is published in its final form.
Dan Scorer, head of policy and public affairs at Mencap, says the document is too ambiguous and lacks clear definitions.
"We believe that the draft code is not user-friendly and seems to reflect the layout of the bill rather than the actual pathways through education that children and young people take. The government should strongly consider amending the structure of the entire document so it is driven by educational phases.
"We also believe the document assumes prior knowledge of the SEN system and, given that a number of new audiences - such as the post-16 sector and various health agencies - are being incorporated into this draft code, there is a danger that this assumption is misplaced and could undermine the success of the implementation of the reforms."
Unresolved issues
In addition to concerns about adequacy of the draft code of practice, some charities question the level of support that will be provided to families under the new legislation.
Richard Hawkes, chief executive of Scope, says the majority of children and young people with SEN will not receive the new plans.
"EHC plans could make a real difference, by drawing together all the support that a child needs into one plan. However, the majority of children and young people using the new system will not get an EHC plan and the government must ensure that their needs are met through improved, accessible local services and child-focused support in schools."
Simon Parkinson, board member of Every Disabled Child Matters (EDCM), shares a similar concern. "This is only the start of a long process of the cultural change that is so urgently needed," he says.
"We will monitor how well the new system is delivering for all disabled children, young people and their families and those with SEN, especially those without an EHC plan, and campaign to ensure they get what was promised to them.
"We will campaign both nationally and locally to ensure that disabled children, young people and those with SEN actually get what has been promised to them."
Meanwhile, the Pre-school Learning Alliance is concerned that reductions in local government funding could undermine the reforms and their delivery, particularly when professional posts such as health workers and SEN co-ordinators are lost as a result.
"The expertise that used to be drawn into settings is disappearing," says national inclusion manager Nicky Gibson.
"There are all these fantastic plans, but the reality is that these services are not even there."
In addition, the act does not specify that the EHC plans will apply to young people in custody - a third of whom, according to studies, have a diagnosable special educational need.
Andy Bell, deputy chief executive of the Centre for Mental Health, says such an omission could see young people have their EHC plan "suspended" upon entering youth custody.
"When children go into the youth justice system, the last thing we need to do is remove SEN provision when they are so vulnerable.
"It's a potential pitfall in the system, but maybe there are ways to get around it - as it is permissive legislation - and do the right thing."
Foster care
What is happening?
The Children and Families Act introduces a requirement on local authorities to allow young people to stay in foster care up to the age of 21, referred to as "staying-put arrangements".
The legislation also amends the Children Act 1989 to make it easier for prospective adopters to foster children. The aim is to ensure that more children can live with their permanent carers at the earliest possible stage of the adoption process.
Who does it affect?
The changes will affect local authority fostering teams and fostering agencies that will have to ascertain whether young people approaching the age of 18 want to stay in foster care and whether their foster parents want them to stay, as well as sorting out financial arrangements. The legislation around fostering for adoption will have implications for local authority children's social workers.
Implications for practice
It is likely to take some time before young people remaining in foster care up to the age of 21 is seen as the norm rather than a possible option, with a final decision taken as the young person approaches 18.
Robert Tapsfield, chief executive at the Fostering Network, says it would be detrimental to young people if there is a period between the ages of 17 and 18 where a decision on whether to continue fostering is taken, because the lack of certainty would be unsettling.
To avoid this scenario, he says local authorities have some "knotty" issues to resolve. Chief among these is the level of support provided to foster carers.
An evaluation of staying put arrangement pilots indicates that the level of financial support paid by local authorities to foster carers varied across trial authorities depending on their individual circumstances and their financial arrangements for fostering. Some authorities continued to pay carers the same amount they were being paid prior to the young person turning 18, but, in other areas, foster carers received less money on the basis that expectations upon them changed when the young person reached 18. In a number of cases, foster carers objected to reduced payments as they did not feel that their responsibilities had diminished.
"Most current staying put schemes pay foster carers at a lower level than when the child they are fostering is 17," Tapsfield says. "In the longer term, this will have to change.
"The child's needs do not suddenly change once they are 18. There is no reason to think foster carers can suddenly manage with less money than before.
"It is essential that these issues are resolved in order that there is no break or point where a new decision is taken when children reach 18."
The evaluation also found that the quality of relationships between the foster parents and child, and the extent to which secure attachments had been established, are key factors influencing both foster carers' decisions to extend placements and young people's willingness to stay put, highlighting the importance of effective care planning and matching.
Unresolved issues
In terms of fostering for adoption, Tapsfield points to a danger that children could miss out on a kinship placement, due to pressure to place them with foster carers who could adopt them.
He is also concerned about the implications for siblings, in that, allied with new guidance that means social workers must no longer assume they should be kept together, more could be split up from stable foster placements.
"The government has always said that there is no hierarchy of options and that what is important is to make the right placement for each child," Tapsfield says. "We would all accept the importance of them living with foster carers who eventually adopt them.
"But children who could grow up in foster care with their siblings should not be separated in order that they can be adopted. If they are already living with foster carers, is it better if they continue to live in foster care together or should they be separated?
"The new policy shifts the balance towards adoption, and some would say being able to grow up with your siblings is terribly important."
Cathy Ashley, chief executive of the Family Rights Group, has also raised concerns about fostering to adopt.
She says it could result in children being placed with a potential adopter without the parent having received legal advice, and without a judge or court getting advice whether they should be removed from their parents. "There are not the checks and balances there should be," she says.
Meanwhile, the move to extend support for young people in foster care up to the age of 21 has led to growing calls for the same support for young people in residential care.
In January, children's minister Edward Timpson announced that Department for Education officials will work alongside the National Children's Bureau, the Who Cares? Trust and Catch22 to "look at the practical issues of introducing staying-put arrangements in children's homes over the coming year".
The cost of implementing 'staying put arrangements'
£40m - amount of funding the government has allocated to the initiative over three years
£5,400 - cost of each staying put placement (based on an estimated 8,000 eligible young people)
£263,158 - amount each local authority will be allocated if the £40m is divided equally between all 152
Source: DfE
Children's commissioner
What is happening?
Under the legislative changes, the role of children's commissioner for England has been strengthened. The changes include:
The role of children's rights director has been axed, with the duties incorporated into the role of the children's commissioner.
From 1 April, the commissioner's primary function is extended to "promoting and protecting" the rights of children, where it was previously tasked with representing the "views and interests" of children.
The commissioner will be able to "advise" people or organisations whose actions affect children on how to comply with the rights of children as set out in law.
The commissioner will also be able to consider how government policy proposals and proposed legislation will impact on the rights of children, and bring any matter to the attention of the House of Commons and House of Lords.
Who does it affect?
Primarily, the Office of the Children's commissioner, which will largely determine how its remit will affect the way it works, but ultimately, all children and young people.
Implications for practice
Paola Uccellari, director at the Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) says the position will have greater independence from government.
"Previously, the commissioner was required to consult the Education Secretary before carrying out an inquiry into what is happening to children on the ground. But now the role will be more independent of government, which is crucial, because the commissioner is supposed to hold the state to account for its impact on children's human rights. It can't do that if there is a lack of independence from government," she says.
"We really welcome the strong new powers that the commissioner will have under this legislation to protect children's human rights.
"The current children's commissioner has already started to take a more rights-based approach to her work, but in future the way the commissioner's office uses the new powers will depend on who takes over as the next commissioner - it will be down to how the individual uses the power they have."
Unresolved issues
Uccellari says her organisation campaigned for a number of changes that did not appear in the final legislation. Crae wanted the commissioner to be granted powers to take action under the Human Rights Act if they believe children's rights are being breached.
Currently, only victims, rather than a third party, can bring a case, but Uccellari points to the fact that children are less likely to be in a position to challenge the state in this way than adults.
Crae also wants greater involvement of parliament in the selection of the children's commissioner. Currently, the Education Secretary has the final say over the appointment.
This prompted controversy in 2009, when the then Children's Secretary Ed Balls appointed the current commissioner Maggie Atkinson to the role despite opposition from the children, schools and family select committee.
"The government has made the commitment that parliament would be involved in the selection, but we wanted to see that on the face of the bill," Uccellari says.
Rights and wellbeing
What's happening?
The act defends children's rights to live in a healthy environment by extending existing smoke-free legislation, introduced in the Health Act 2006, to circumstances where a person under the age of 18 is present in a vehicle.
Anyone smoking in a car with a child or young person under the age of 18 present could be fined.
The legislation also paves the way for the Health Secretary to introduce plain packaging requirements for tobacco products to reduce the risk of harm to under-18s. This includes limitations on markings on packaging, logos and other features that can distinguish different brands.
All looked-after children to have the right to access a virtual school head who will ensure they receive appropriate education support.
Who does it affect?
The smoking ban for vehicles carrying children will be enforced by police officers, while local authority trading standards officers will be required to monitor adherence to any new tobacco regulations when, or if, they are produced.
Implications for practice
Enforcing a ban on smoking in vehicles with children present will be difficult. The police use fixed and mobile cameras to detect speeding as well as people using mobile phones while driving.
But smoking will be harder to spot. With the advent of e-cigarettes, police also run the risk of incorrectly stopping drivers.
Unresolved issues
Although extending smoke-free legislation to private vehicles has been welcomed by health campaigners as an important victory for children's rights, rights campaigners say there are areas of the act that are worrying.
Paola Uccellari, director at the Children's Rights Alliance for England (Crae), says her organisation wanted young people's voices given more prominence in the legislation.
One example she cites is that of family justice provisions that require courts to take the view that both parents should continue to be involved in their children's lives if they separate.
She says this could diminish the importance of a child's views on the issue. "We are concerned that the provisions undermine the paramountcy of the child's best interests and voice post-separation," she says.
Crae also has reservations about the removal of the requirement for due consideration to be given to the ethnicity of a child when making an adoption placement.
"Article 20 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child state that ethnicity should be taken into account when deciding what is best for the child. There is a risk this legislation will undermine the extent to which that will happen in practice."
Young carers
What is happening?
Following years of work by campaigners, young carers will be entitled to the same help and support as adult carers. The legislation means that all young carers under the age of 18 will:
Be entitled to an assessment of their support needs.
Their local authority will have to consider what services it can provide to meet these.
Who does it affect?
The changes will predominantly affect local authorities - both children's services and adult services departments.
Adult social care teams will be required to consider the needs of any children when deciding how best to support adults requiring care.
And children's services will be required to assess the situation in relation to how it impacts on the young person's life.
The changes also place emphasis on local authorities identifying young people who may be caring for an adult, as some young people may not realise they are entitled to support.
Implications for practice
Greater co-operation and communication between children's services and adult services will be vital in order to make a difference for young carers, says Moira Fraser, director of policy at the Carers Trust.
"Wherever a child is caring, children's services must work alongside adult services to find out why that child is caring, and try to address the needs of the adult and reduce the impact of the caring role."
"If the child's caring cannot be reduced and still has a negative impact, they have the right to an assessment and support of their own circumstances. At the moment, children are falling between adult and children's services."
A young carer's needs assessment must include an assessment of whether it is appropriate for the young carer to provide, or continue to provide, care for the person in question, in the light of the young carer's needs for support, other needs and wishes.
In carrying out a young carer's needs assessment, the local authority must involve the young carer and their parents.
After carrying out an assessment, the local authority must decide if the young carer needs support and whether or not to provide services.
Under the legislation, local authorities in England will also have to take "reasonable steps" to identify young carers in their area who need support.
Unresolved issues
It is unclear exactly how many young carers there are. The widely quoted estimate is 160,000, but it is believed there are likely to be far more. Part of the problem is that many young people do not realise they are a young carer, and others fear that they could be taken into care if they come forward.
"We still struggle to identify young carers," Fraser says.
"Despite the fact there is much greater recognition of the issue, we struggle to get referrals through at an early stage. We need schools and the NHS to take a far more proactive approach."
The majority of referrals come from children's services, schools and children's mental health services.
Campaigners say GPs and health professionals are in a good position to identify young carers by asking simple questions if an adult shows up at an appointment with a young person accompanying them.
"The responsibility of the NHS in terms of identification is very minimal at the moment - and that is something we need to keep looking at," Fraser says.
The Carers Trust also wants schools to establish a clear framework of support for young carers, and to appoint a named teacher to provide help and advice on academic studies to young carers.
Its call comes on the back of a study by the charity, published in November, which found that half of 295 young adult carers questioned had received no additional support from their school to help them cope with their caring duties.
Beyond this, there are questions about how financially burdensome the new duty could be for local authorities - both in terms of assessing a young carer's needs and providing support for them.
"Because there is no more money, I'm concerned that local authorities are scratching their heads, thinking 'I have no idea how I am going to do this'," Fraser says.
"As with everything, there is the risk it can be implemented in a way that means the least change.
"The legislation fundamentally changes the way young carers are recognised in our view, but, as ever, it is going to be about how things will play out in the associated regulations, and we are only at the start of discussions on that framework."
Number of unpaid young carers
160,000 - (Children's Society estimate)
290,000 - (Carers Trust estimate for those aged 16-24)
700,000 - (BBC estimate based on research).
