The rise in demand led 30 out of 36 county local authorities to overspend a combined total of £317m on children's services, with councils in these areas seeing some of the largest increases in England for referrals to children’s services.
Nationally, all 151 top-tier English councils with children’s services responsibility overspent by £946.5m collectively.
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The CCN attributed the overspends to a surge in demand for children's services post-pandemic.
It found that between 2020/21 and 2022/23, there was an increase of more than 20,000 referrals across county councils – an increase of nine per cent compared with the period between 2018/19 and 2019/20.
Over the same post-pandemic period, the number of children in care in county areas increased by 1,079, in contrast with the months directly prior to the pandemic which saw a decrease of 140 children in care.
Numbers of foster carers have also fallen, with a national 28 per cent decrease in foster care applications to councils across England between 2020/21 to 2021/22.
County areas saw a 31 per cent decrease in that period, with the number of initial applications from potential foster carers falling from 2,750 in 2020/21 to 1,885 the following year.
Councillor Keith Glazier, children’s services spokesman for the CCN, said that the “concerning” figures illustrate the impact of the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis on vulnerable families.
“Faced with this spike in demand, most councils in county areas have had little choice but to overspend on their children’s services budgets to protect young people," he added.
Glazier said that the CCN’s report shows councils are being “creative” in how they invest in services, transform their ways of working and undertake social work recruitment initiatives, but added that four in five county councils overspending on budgets is “unsustainable”.
“Council leaders know we are in a vicious circle where scarce funds are prioritised towards young people in crisis, which is why we welcomed the government’s emphasis on prevention.
“But £200m committed to reforming services does not go far enough, and we are calling on the next government to prioritise greater investment into early help and family services," he added.
A spokesperson for the Local Government Association said: "The findings underline why it is absolutely vital children’s services are adequately funded so councils can meet this rising demand and ensure children and their families get the support they need, as soon as they need it.
"The funding announced in the government’s children’s social care implementation strategy, while helpful, falls short of addressing the £1.6 billion shortfall – estimated prior to inflation – required each year simply to maintain current service levels."
