CYP Now Early Help Conference: Local authorities hit by increase in demand for early intervention services
Fiona Simpson
Monday, November 23, 2020
Local authority children’s services department’s did not experience the expected surge in demand for referrals when schools reopened in September but have seen an increase in requests for early help services, experts have said.
Speaking on the first day of CYP Now’s Early Help: Critical support to prevent a lost generation conference, Sara Tough, chair of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) families, communities and young people policy committee and director of children’s services at Norfolk County Council said her local authority was “almost expecting a surge in demand when schools reopened but what we haven't seen is a surge in referrals to our social work teams”.
However, she added that Norfolk was “starting to see an increase in requests for family support at that lower level”.
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This is an “emerging pattern” seen through anecdotal evidence across the country, she said, adding that the ADCS was in talks with the Department for Education over how best to fund services including early help and Troubled Families programmes.
Tough also branded the government’s decision to shorten this year’s Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), due to be announced on Wednesday (25 November), as “disappointing”.
The inability for local authorities to plan spending beyond next year’s budget means their “ability to step in to prevent harm down the line will reduce greatly”.
“The pandemic has delayed important decisions about children’s lives and outcomes - we await news on reviews over elective home education and unregulated accommodation for children in care, launch of the Care Review and conclusion of the SEND Review,” she said.
When asked by attendees to lay out her top three priorities for this week’s one-year spending review announcement, Tough said she would like to see a “real recognition that schools are there for much more than education - they are a significant part of our community infrastructure in terms of children’s wellbeing”, proper funding of local authorities “in terms of investing in intervention” and “greater recognition within the NHS of children’s mental health services”.
Early Help: Critical support to prevent a lost generation conference is taking place until Thursday 26 November between 1pm and 3pm each day.
Tickets to the online conference are still available. You can view the remaining sessions live, while all the sessions (including those you may have missed) will be available to view on-demand in your own time for up to three months.