Comment on referrals to children’s social care
Commenting on referrals to children’s social care, Heather Sandy, Chair of the ADCS Educational Achievement Policy Committee said:
“The importance of schools in multi-agency safeguarding responses cannot be overstated. School staff see children very regularly and are well placed to notice changes in behaviour or concerns. It is important that they receive good training and support to help them feel confident in fulfilling this important part of their role. Contact referrals to children’s social care have been rising over the last decade, ADCS data show that there were 2.7 million initial contacts to children’s social care departments in England during 2021/22, up from 2.5 million in 2019/20. We are increasingly seeing children and families we have not worked with before present to children’s services with more complex and overlapping needs, likely as a consequence of the pandemic. Not all referrals to children’s social care will result in a statutory social work assessment, there is rightly a clearly defined threshold for state intervention in family life. However, ‘no further action’ does not mean that no support is offered, this can be provided via a referral to a charity or community-based service rather than a social worker. Before a decision is made all available information at the time will be assessed, discussed, and investigated to ascertain whether concerns are substantiated.”
ENDS