It's welcome news that the government recognises parental conflict as a key factor contributing to the long term detrimental impact on children’s development and reduced chances in education.

Analysis by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) released on April 4 says parental conflict directly contributes to joblessness which can only be tackled by collectively helping families.

The DWP’s new policy will see £30m going into a programme to help parents.

That agenda links with our own at Community Family Care.

Let’s hope the money goes where it’s most needed and can be used most effectively.

​Here’s a link to the full report: 
www.gov.uk/government/publications/improving-lives-helping-workless-families

And to an article in The Guardian:
www.theguardian.com/society/2017/apr/04/government-relationship-support-unemployed-jobcentres-children-parents

NSPCC has launched a campaign calling on the Culture Secretary Karen Bradley to amend the Digital Economy Bill to that it includes ways of keeping children safe online.

​The Safe Internet Explorers campaign asks that:

• websites, games and apps meet minimum safety standards
• moderators are trained to spot signs of bullying online
• steps are put in place to prevent children coming across sexual or violent content 

The Queen’s Speech yesterday outlined the Government’s agenda for the next Parliamentary session. The main points for children and families are:
​

• All schools will be encouraged to become Academies but will not be forced to unless found to be less than good by Ofsted inspection.
• The National Citizen Service will become a permanent, statutory programme with £1.2 billion of funding.
• University provision will be opened up to non-profit and private providers with permission to increase tuition fees in line with inflation, in an attempt to increase quality and access to higher education.
• A million new homes will be built.
• A levy wil be imposed on soft drinks to combat obesity in children.
• A Help To Save scheme for families.
• A Lifetime ISA for young people.
• A proposal for a British Bill of Rights.

There are several specific developments for children in care and care leavers:

• A Care Leavers’ Convenant establishing what care leavers are entitled to from their local authority including housing, employment and health.
• Standards for how local authorities should act as a ‘corporate parent’ to support children in care and as they move into adult life.
• An extension to the right to a Personal Adviser to all who want one up to the age of 25.
• Ensuring courts and local authorities take better account of a child’s need for stability up to the age of 18 when making decisions about their future
• A duty on local authorities and schools to promote educational achievement for adopted children and those in the long-term care of family members or guardians.
• A specialist regulator for social work, to enable a clear focus on standards and effective training and development.

The Troubled Families programme has delivered savings of more than double the amount spent on turning around the lives of families with complex problems, government figures suggest.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) cost analysis of the controversial £448m initiative showed the average financial benefit per family to taxpayers is £11,200, more than double the £5,214 spent on interventions for each family that have gone through the programme.

In the year before entering the programme families involved cost taxpayers £26,000 on average, taking into account costs such as benefits, criminal justice and social care. For the most complex cases the average cost to the taxpayer was £44,000.

Among areas analysed, the evaluation found that the programme in Salford reduced the health spending for each family by £1,700 on average. 

The figures were revealed as the DCLG revealed that the programme has turned around the lives of 105,000 families that have taken part in it.

The DCLG says nine out of 10 of the 120,000 families involved in the programme have now seen significant improvement in their lives, including finding work and reduction in incidents of antisocial behaviour and truancy.

But Barnardo's questioned the government’s spending on the initiative while pursuing austerity measures across family support services. 
 
Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan says: “It is not 120,000 troubled families but the deep and widespread impact of austerity which is damaging the social fabric of the country.
 
“Over three million children have been plunged into poverty while local authority budget cuts for vulnerable families make it difficult for them to access lifeline local services. The government has invested £448m in troubled families at the same time as swingeing cuts in its Sure Start programme have led to the closure of hundreds of local children’s centres. 

“For poor families who struggle daily with income cuts and soaring living costs, the ability to use a children’s centre or turn to the council is the safety net preventing them from falling into crisis.”

He urges the next government to shift the focus of spending towards early intervention rather than “picking up social problems later on”.
 
Last year, the programme was extended to cover an additional 400,000 troubled families by 2020.  


- See more at: http://www.cypnow.co.uk/cyp/news/1150229/troubled-families-programme-delivers-substantial-savings

Ofsted has published figures which show a steep rise in Serious Case Reviews (SCRs). Key points include:

·         143 SCRs were initiated between April 2013 and March 2014 – a 53% increase on the same period the previous year.

·         The number of SCRs initiated as a result of an incident of serious harm almost trebled.

·         48 children died from natural causes, of whom 32 were children with severe disabilities or life-limiting illnesses; of these 32 children, 23 were looked after.

·         31 children and young people died from non-accidental death.

·         30 children and young people died from ‘dangerous behaviour’ a figure which includes 20 suicides.

Read more at: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/serious-incident-notifications-official-statistics-release

Foster carers are being pressured by local authorities into considering permanently caring for children through special guardianship orders (SGOs), a charity has warned.

Government statistics published this week show that the use of SGOs has soared in recent years. Between April 2013 and March 2014, 3,330 SGOs were issued by courts – a rise of 20.2 per cent from the 2,770 made in the previous 12 months. The figure has more than doubled since 2010, when 1,290 SGOs were made.

An SGO is an order made by the court under the Adoption and Children Act 2002, which gives legal status for non-parents, meaning a child or a young person can live with them permanently. Crucially, the child is no longer the responsibility of the local authority.

The cost of supporting a child on an SGO is also considerably less than if they were in foster care.

Fostering and adoption charity The Adolescent and Children’s Trust (Tact) has said it is concerned by the rapid increase in SGOs and wants the issue to be investigated to find out the reasons for it.

Andy Elvin, Tact chief executive, described the rise in SGOs as "dizzying" in light of the fact that adoptions – a top Department for Education priority – have increased at a far slower rate.

He said: “SGOs were introduced to allow young people stability and permanence. 

“We are, however, worried that this dramatic rise indicates that they are being increasingly used inappropriately. 

“We are aware ourselves of some pressure being brought to bear on some foster carers to apply for SGOs.

“Foster carers have been asked to consider special guardianship shortly after a placement is made, or placements being made only on condition that an SGO is part of the care plan. 

“SGOs should only be considered when the time is right for carers and the young person.”

There is evidence that local authorities are looking at how they can increase their use of SGOs.

In March, CYP Now reported that as part of efforts to reduce “excessive” numbers of children in care in Norfolk, the county council had been considering whether children and young people currently placed with foster carers could be “migrated” to an SGO.

- See more at: http://www.cypnow.co.uk/cyp/news/1147190/charity-warns-inappropriate-special-guardianship

The Department for Education has published statistics on looked after children in England for the year ending 31 March 2014. Key points include:

·         There were 68,840 looked after children at 31 March 2014, an increase of 1% on the previous year

·         There were 30,430 children who started to be looked after during the year ending 31 March 2014, an increase of 5% on the previous year

·         30,430 children also ceased to be There were 30,430 children who started to be looked after during the year ending 31 March 2014, an increase of 6% on the previous year

·         5,040 looked after children were adopted during the year ending 31 March 2014, an increase of 26% on the previous year

Read more at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/359277/SFR36_2014_Text.pdf

The Children and Families Court Advisory and Support and Service (Cafcass) has published its third survey of Guardians’ views regarding care applications made by local authorities. The first two studies were published in 2009 and 2012 in the context of rising numbers of care applications. Key findings include:

·         In 84% of cases, guardians say that the local authorities did not have a more appropriate course of action to follow other than issuing proceedings.

·         Guardians considered that the timing of the application was appropriate in 54% of cases, late in 39% of cases, and premature in 5% of cases.

·         18% of children had not been known to the local authority prior to the application being made.

·         52% of children were subject to a child protection plan at the times of the application and a further 20% had previously been subject to a plan, with neglect remaining the principal category of concern for children for these children.

·         Guardians considered that the local authority had entirely met the requirements of the Public Law Outline in 43% of cases and had partially met them in another 40% of cases.

Read more at: http://www.cafcass.gov.uk/media/217447/three_weeks_in_november_five_years_on.pdf

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published the latest monthly statistics on the labour market. Key figures show:

• In the three months to July 2014, there were 3.76 million 16 to 24 year olds in employment.
• There were 747,000 unemployed 16 to 24 years olds, down 106,000 from the previous quarter (and down 213,000 on the same quarter in 2012-2013).
• The unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 16.6%, down from 18.5% in the previous quarter (and down from 21.0% on the same quarter in 2012-2013).
• The number of 16 to 24 years olds unemployed for over a year decreased to 200,000 (from 240,000) and the number unemployed for over two years decreased to 84,000 (from 103,000).
•  There are 237,000 unemployed young people who are not in education and do not claim Jobseeker’s Allowance, 48.5% of all unemployed young people who are not students.

The Children’s Society, Barnardo’s, Action for Children, Save the Children and NSPCC have called on politicians to invest in early support for children, young people and families before they reach crisis point. A survey published to coincide with the release of A Stitch in Time reveals that:

·         Around 80% of the British public think that the lives of the most vulnerable will see no improvement over the next five years, including 25% who think the future will get worse and 54% who think it will stay the same

·         73% agree that tax payers’ money should be spent on early support services for children

·         84% agree providing early support to children before problems arise helps children and young people reach their full potential in adulthood