Abstract
Over the last decade England has seen rising numbers and rates of children in care and subject to child protection intervention. This article draws on national data and quantitative data from a study of ‘City’, a local authority in the north of England with a large Family Group Conference service. In distinction to national trends, City has seen substantial declines in the numbers and rates of children in care and who are subject to child protection intervention. The article analyses how notable these declines may be, comparing the declines with national trends, and exploring six-month service indicators for children who had a Family Group Conference. Implications regarding the reduction of levels of state social work intervention in family life are discussed.
Highlights
This article draws on analysis of public UK Government data on child and family social work intervention rates in England alongside quantitative data gathered as part of an evaluation of ‘City’, an urban local authority in the north of England with a large Family Group Conference (FGC) service
The six month FGC service indicator data show that the proportions of children in state care six months after an FGC were similar to the proportions at the time of the FGC, while the proportions subject to Child Protection Plan (CP) and with any social work involvement notably decreased by the six month point, in the 2015 year
Data regarding the reductions in the rates of children in state care and subject to Child Protection intervention in City paint a positive picture over a five year period from 2012, after Restorative Practice had been introduced
Summary
This article draws on analysis of public UK Government data on child and family social work intervention rates in England alongside quantitative data gathered as part of an evaluation of ‘City’, an urban local authority in the north of England with a large Family Group Conference (FGC) service. Recent concern has been generated by a number of factors including: the proportions of children in state care rising by over a third since the mid-1990s (Rowlands & Statham, 2009; Department of Education (DfE), 2018); the publication of findings from a high profile research study confirming the strong links between deprivation and the likelihood of entering state care (Bywaters et al, 2018); and, unprecedented public spending cuts, justified on the basis of austerity since 2010 Such concern has focussed attention on the need to explore alternative processes by which services can work more collaboratively with families where there are child welfare concerns. The use of FGCs with families are one of the ways which have been suggested of doing so
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