Early intervention must be ringfenced, urges ADCS

Research by the ADCS indicates that numbers of children looked after due to abuse or neglect increased by 53.3 per cent in the past three years.

The research is supported by national government statistics released today, which show an increase in the number of children being referred to social workers, being assessed and those identified as requiring protection through a child protection plan. The government data covers 142 of the 152 local authorities in England.

Marion Davis, ADCS president, said child protection services are struggling to cope. "There must be a significant shift from earlier identification to earlier intervention, with local authorities and partner agencies working together to prevent or mitigate problems before they become more serious, and more costly to solve," she said.

"Without investment in early intervention, we risk creating a perfect storm – as demand rises and resources reduce, the current early intervention schemes will come under increased pressure as resources are siphoned off to cope with pressures on statutory services.

"Some means of protecting these services must be found, and we propose a ringfenced grant either for early intervention specifically, or for service redesign.

"At the very least, policy-makers must recognise that immediately cutting the resources for children’s social care as a whole will threaten services that are expected to choke off demand, and cost, in the longer term."

Labour MP Graham Allen, who is leading a review of early intervention, has voiced support for the ADCS's recommendations, which include a renewed commitment to partnership working locally and nationally and a dramatic reduction in prescriptive guidance and quantitative performance indicators. He said: "Earlier intervention to support parents in providing a safe and supportive environment for their children is better for the child, better for the family and better for the services that are struggling to cope with increases in concern about children who may be suffering from abuse.

"The parents of many of the children reported to children’s social services lack the skills to give the children the help that they need – by giving them these skills and supporting them in bringing up their children we can help to reduce the demand for child protection services so that social workers can focus on those children who are at serious risk of harm."

The ADCS research is the second phase of a project provided analysis from local authorities.

The second phase is based on responses from 87 local authorities covering 60 per cent of England’s under-18 population.