Safeguarding Pressures Phase 6

www.adcs.org.uk Research Report SAFEGUARDING PRESSURES PHASE 6 November 2018 The Association of Directors of Children’s Services Ltd The research was commissioned by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services Ltd and undertaken by Carole Brooks Associates Limited on their behalf. The Association retains ownership of the data and of the publication rights to the report. Views expressed in this report are based on evidence provided by local authorities and other sources during the project. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the precision of the information contained in the report, we cannot guarantee its accuracy or currency. With many thanks, yet again, to all local authorities and individuals who participated in this research © ADCS, November 2018 2 |ADCS Safeguarding Pressures Phase 6 – Main Report CONTENTS Foreword .................................................................................................................................... 4 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 5 2 Summary of Previous Phases ............................................................................................. 5 3 Phase 6 Research Questions .............................................................................................. 6 4 Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 7 5 Current Context ............................................................................................................... 10 6 Demographic and Economic Factors ............................................................................... 14 7 Parental Needs ................................................................................................................. 23 8 Universal Services ............................................................................................................ 24 9 Early Help ......................................................................................................................... 27 10 ‘The Front Door’ to Children’s Social Care ....................................................................... 33 11 Children in Need .............................................................................................................. 39 12 Child Protection ............................................................................................................... 45 13 Children Looked After ...................................................................................................... 50 14 Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) .......................................................... 71 15 Care Leavers ..................................................................................................................... 73 16 Adolescents ...................................................................................................................... 76 17 Correlating Activity Across Children’s Services ................................................................ 80 18 Outcomes for Children and Young People ....................................................................... 86 19 Workforce ........................................................................................................................ 88 20 Commissioning ................................................................................................................. 91 21 Finance ............................................................................................................................. 92 22 Summary of Factors, Challenges and Enablers .............................................................. 100 23 Case Studies ................................................................................................................... 104 24 Direction of Travel ......................................................................................................... 113 25 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 119 26 References ..................................................................................................................... 122 Appendix A: Glossary of Definitions Additional documents part of this research: Timeline Executive Summary Report 3 |ADCS Safeguarding Pressures Phase 6 – Main Report Foreword In a country that works for all children every child should be able to say, ‘I am safe’ and ‘I am happy’. Whilst this is true for the majority, a growing number of children need help to secure their wellbeing and keep them safe from harm. Local authorities are committed to improving children’s life chances but children’s services are under increasing pressure which is impacting on this goal. Figures from the National Audit Office show our budgets have been reduced by 50% since 2010, at the same time demand is rising and children’s needs are becoming more complex. In addition, children’s services face a £2 billion funding gap by 2020, just to stand still. Understandably, child protection work has been prioritised, but cuts to vital preventative services that prevent future demand have been necessary. The cuts we are having to make are counterintuitive as well as not being the right thing to do for children but without proper funding we are left with no choice. In the sixth phase of Safeguarding Pressures research we are seeing further increases in safeguarding activity. Domestic abuse, poor parental mental health and substance misuse are becoming more common amongst the children and families we work with and it is clear that without addressing unmet parental need we cannot make sustained improvements in the lives of children. In phase 6, we can compare data over a ten-year period; and for the first time, predictive modelling is used to estimate future demand, making the latest iteration the most comprehensive and robust yet. This year, we received survey responses from 140 of the 152 local authorities in England, our highest ever response rate, providing information covering 11.3 million (95%) children and young people. I’d like to thank everyone involved in this research, to the contributing authorities for continuing to strengthen this valued evidence base by providing such rich accounts of your local experiences and to the research team for all your hard work. A country that works for all children must invest in children and families but with Brexit taking up so much parliamentary time and focus there is a real risk that many of the issues raised in this report will remain unaddressed. This cannot happen in the interest of children now and in the future. ADCS believes every child deserves a happy, safe childhood, we hope others do too. Stuart Gallimore President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services November 2018 4 |ADCS Safeguarding Pressures Phase 6 – Main Report 1 Introduction The Association of Directors of Children’s Services Ltd (ADCS) is committed to ensuring an evidence-based approach to planning and delivery of children’s services. As part of this commitment, ADCS has commissioned phase 6 of its Safeguarding Pressures research to examine changes in demand and delivery of children’s early help, social care and associated services, set in the wider national policy context. Since the first report in 2010 (ADCS, 2010a), each phase has focused on what was important to directors of children’s services and emerging issues at that time. Phase 6 now brings the evidence base up to date in the current context in which children’s services are operating, providing a longitudinal view of evidence over the past ten years (2008 to 2018) and looks ahead five years to 2023. We evidence that during that time, there have been constants and changes, challenges and enablers, and a growing interdependence and converging of pressures on children and families resulting in their need for support from statutory services. 2 Summary of Previous Phases Through each of the previous five phases of research, a continued, though not universal, rise in safeguarding activity was evidenced. Factors contributing to this, for example domestic abuse and the economic downturn, appeared to be becoming more acute and more prevalent. Predictions of increases in the number of children and young people requiring children’s social care services against reducing budgets and population increase in each phase have been realised. Phases 1 (ADCS, 2010a) and 2 (ADCS, 2010b) reported increases due to factors such as the impact of the Southwark Judgement1; heightened anxiety and increased public and professional awareness (partly due to the death of Peter Connelly); and more coherent multi-agency processes improving identification of needs. In Phase 3 (ADCS, 2012), respondents were hopeful that once effective early help services were implemented, they would start to see a reduction in referrals, children subjects of child protection plans and children looked after, but only after an initial rise in activity as cases of previously unmet need were identified. A focus on permanency for children looked 1 The Southwark Judgement, made by The House of Lords (G vs Southwark) in May 2009 is a piece of case law that obliges children’s services to provide accommodation and support to homeless 16 and 17 year olds. 5 |ADCS Safeguarding Pressures Phase 6 – Main Report after evidenced that there was an

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