The document summarises inspections of children's services in England and councils' Victoria Climbie self audits.
Andrew Cozens, president of the Association of Directors of Social Services, said the problem was the consequence of "the focus of services on the child protection agenda". Cozens said children in need, who are defined as being not at immediate risk but having problems that may potentially lead to higher risk, were "being screened out or are being dealt with as lower priority".
According to the report, some children in need are allocated to unqualified social workers.
But Cozens said it was wrong to call them social workers. "They are unqualified childcare staff who work in social services children's teams," he added. "Even when children are allocated to unqualified staff, they are supervised by qualified staff."
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