Daily roundup 29 March: Holiday support, Cafcass, and Brexit

New funding for organisations to research ways of supporting disadvantaged families during the school holidays has been announced by children's minister Nadhim Zahawi. The Department for Education said the £2m investment will go towards exploring how best to help the most disadvantaged children to benefit from healthy meals and enriching activities. Organisations across the country have been invited to apply for a share of the money and will be encouraged to work across a number of regions, or in partnership with other experts.


The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) has been rated "outstanding" by Ofsted, winning praise for continuous improvement against a backdrop of rising demand. Ofsted said that the organisation listens to children, understands their world and acts on their views. Inspectors noted that the vast majority of Cafcass staff at all levels consistently provide excellent-quality services for children, their families and family courts.


Internationally blended families involving EU citizens and British-born children have been warned that their children could face "serious problems" after Brexit if they do not already have documentation to stay in the UK. The Guardian reports that parents from the EU are being urged to get their children's status documented as soon as possible if they want them to avoid hostile environment checks by the Home Office which could mean measures such as bank accounts being closed, driving licences cancelled and job offers being withdrawn.


Youth charity Leap has launched a new programme to support young people in foster care and residential care, and the people who care for them. Under our Roof will aim to change long-term negative impacts that being in care can have on young people's education, health and life chances, supporting them and their carers to build strong, positive and stable relationships.