DfE to fund 'family holidays' in bid to reduce numbers of children in care
Neil Puffett
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Councils will be able to use government money to send struggling families on holiday as part of efforts to reduce record numbers of children going into care, it has emerged.
In a bid to identify the best ways to prevent children being removed from their families, social workers will be handed "significant funds" to spend in "creative ways" as part of a Department for Education initiative.
Suggestions for how the money could be used include family breaks, redecorating the home, or covering the cost of childcare.
The work is being led by the DfE's What Works Centre for Children's Social Care, which has invited councils to bid for funding of between £400,000 and £600,000 to test the idea.
The practice of devolved budgets has been used in adult social care for a number of years, but is not without controversy. In 2010 it was claimed that exotic holidays, internet dating subscriptions and adventure breaks, as well as visits to sex workers and lap dancing clubs had all been permitted under the system.
It is hoped that allowing children's social workers to decide how families are supported can help buck substantial increases in numbers of children being taken into care and save money for hard-pressed councils.
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The number of children in care is rising at its fastest rate in five years, with 72,670 children in care at the end of March 2017, compared with 70,440 the year before and 69,480 in 2015. Official figures for 2018 are due to be published imminently.
"There has been an unprecedented increase in the number of children in care in recent years," an information document for councils interested in applying for the money, published by the What Works Centre, states.
"Some children need to be in care, however for many it seems likely that it could be avoided. Certainly, we owe it to all families to offer the best possible opportunity to avoid the need for care.
"The literature and to an extent practice systems have tended to focus on professionally-led psychological interventions. These are important, but social and practical issues, including the direct and indirect effects of poverty, may be as significant or may need to be tackled simultaneously to allow help to be effective."
The document goes on to state that social workers and the families they are working with "are best placed to know what might be needed to create real change and keep children safely at home".
"Together, they can design bespoke care prevention plans," it adds.
"This area will therefore work by devolving significant funds for ‘direct help' so that individual social workers and families can work together with all their creativity, professionalism and passion to help children remain safely at home."
The What Works Centre is also running a parallel initiative to test out the placement of social workers in schools.
Earlier this month children's minister Nadhim Zahawi said steps are being taken to try to stem significant increases in the number of children being taken into care, with the government "acutely aware" of the impact the situation is having on local authorities
The increase in numbers of children in care come at a time of increasing pressure on local authority budgets, with the Local Government Association estimating that by 2020, there will be a £2bn funding gap in children's services.