Addressing delegates at the National Children and Adult Services Conference in Liverpool, Andy Smith, President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), today said:

On forthcoming ADCS Safeguarding Pressures research:

“Shortly after conference, ADCS will publish the ninth phase of our Safeguarding Pressures Research.  This is a longitudinal piece of research, and the latest phase brings the evidence base up to date from April 2007 to the end of March 2024.  The research shows that the trend across all domains of safeguarding activity, from initial contacts, referrals and children in need, to child protection and children entering care, remains on an upward trend over the duration of the research.

This latest phase of the research covering the two-year period up to 31 March 2024 shows some changes in safeguarding activity which have not previously been seen, or certainly not seen to this extent.”

On messages about the impact of Covid-19 in the research:

“The lasting impact of Covid-19 on children and young people’s lives and on their outcomes is increasingly visible in growing levels of mental health need among children plus their parents and carers, via heightened inequalities, deteriorating behaviour in schools resulting in rising exclusions, as well as social and developmental delays in younger children.  Families are less resilient and have more entrenched, overlapping needs and challenges as the pandemic aggravated or accelerated these.  My DCSs colleagues are clear, the impact on children and young people has been significantly underestimated and will continue for many years to come.”

On research messages about housing:

“Access to good quality housing, overcrowding, use of temporary accommodation and the affordability of housing is very clearly contributing to family distress and breakdown against the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis.  Children’s services are now routinely supplementing rents under Section 17 duties of the Children Act 1989 to sustain families and keep them together. The research also draws out challenges linked to an increasingly transient population, with families moving far from their homes and communities often, due to high housing costs.”

On messages about health:

“Health challenges came through as key themes from the research, from the impact of delayed access to assessment or treatment plans for parents and carers, particularly for alcohol and substance misuse, as well as for mental health, to growing concerns about poor mental health among adolescents. The lack of focus on, and prioritisation of, children and young people in recent health reforms and the operation of integrated care systems was also frequently raised as a concern for leaders of children’s services right across the country.” 

On children’s social care and profiteering from the care of children:

“It’s really welcome to see that the new government has reaffirmed the commitment to multi-agency working, both in the budget and recently published DfE policy paper, Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive… But it’s not just about profits, often the complex and opaque ownership arrangements of such companies mean that it is almost impossible to understand where decisions are made and where the accountability lies when providers decide to exit the market because it no longer fits their business model or provision does not meet the test, ‘is it good enough for my child?’ ADCS has been raising the alarm about this for years and so we welcome the government’s intention to tackle this head on.”

On inclusive education

“In my role as ADCS President, I have the privilege of going up and down the country visiting my DCSs peers in their regions and while children’s social care is always at the forefront of our minds, SEND is now arguably the top issue keeping DCSs awake at night given the enormous financial pressures, the risk this poses, and ultimately, the undeniable fact that outcomes are not improving for this cohort of children and young people despite record spend.

This has been a system in crisis for some time, with little appetite at the national level to really grasp the nettle.  As a result, the challenges have only become more entrenched and the system more acrimonious…  The SEND Review and Green Paper provided a really clear analysis of how we’ve arrived at this point… the extra £1 billion in the budget for SEND provides some breathing space but without fundamental reform, we will continue to have children and young people who enter their adulthood feeling ill-prepared.

“We need a new blueprint for SEND that is firmly rooted at the heart of the education system.  The appointment of Dame Christine Lenehan as a SEND strategic adviser, along with the establishment of a group of experts to help drive forward work on inclusion in mainstream education settings, is exactly the direction of travel we need, and I look forward to working with Dame Christine and Tom Rees.”

Closing remarks:

“Child poverty has no place in 2024, it is pernicious.  The impact of poverty is widely accepted and it’s not surprising that the number of families which local authorities are supporting due to financial hardship has increased… The foundations that children need to thrive are now absent for a large proportion of children’s lives which results in them arriving at our door in need of help.  This isn’t good for children, families or wider communities.  It’s time to think and work differently.  We need to stop pushing problems onto others and work effectively and collaboratively, with children and families in the round, if we are ever going to achieve the ambition of making childhood matter.”

ENDS