UPDATE NO 388 31 January 2020

Developing Quality Assurance Capacity – 11 February

The next meeting of the QA leads will be held on 11 February at the LGA offices in London.  By the end of the meeting the group plans to have a proposal for the agreed common components of a Quality Assurance Framework to be shared with the DCS group.  The group will also start work on developing a shared understanding of “good practice” and what good quality assurance looks like.

A restricted area is being set up on the SESLIP website so that authorities can share Quality Assurance Frameworks, practice standards and audit processes and tools.

For more details of the Developing Quality Assurance Capacity project please contact Diane Williamson (details below)

Child abuse in England and Wales: data to March 2019

ONS has published 5 statistical releases:

• Child abuse extent and nature, England and Wales: year ending March 2019

• Child emotional abuse in England and Wales: year ending March 2019

• Child neglect in England and Wales: year ending March 2019

• Child physical abuse in England and Wales: year ending March 2019

• Child sexual abuse in England and Wales: year ending March 2019

For the first time ONS has compiled a range of indicators from different data sources – including the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) – to enable better understanding of the extent and circumstances of child abuse. 

Some key findings include:

• The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimated that one in five adults experienced at least one form of child abuse (8.5 million people).
• An estimated 3.1 million adults were victims of sexual abuse before the age of 16 years; this includes abuse by both adult and child perpetrators. 
• It is possible to identify 227,530 child abuse offences recorded by the police in the year ending March 2019.
• At 31 March 2019, 49,570 children in England and 4,810 children in Wales were looked after by their local authority because of experience or risk of abuse or neglect.
• Around half of adults (52%) who experienced abuse before the age of 16 years also experienced domestic abuse later in life, compared with 13% of those who did not experience abuse before the age of 16 years.

Workforce census: Focus on vulnerable children and families paediatric workforce (2020)

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has published a detailed report focusing on lead roles concerning safeguarding, the child death service, looked after children (LAC) and special educational needs and disability (SEND).

The press release is here; the report’s home page is here; you can download the full report here

RCPCH says,

Rising demand and workforce shortages are leading to vacancies in vulnerable children and families lead roles across the UK, according to research published today by RCPCH. The findings also reveal that many Trusts, Health Boards, and CCGs have yet to create roles for child deaths, Looked After Children and children with special educational needs, disability or additional learning needs.

You can download the full report here

Special educational needs and disability support: Rescuing the reforms

The House of Commons Library has published an insight briefing on special educational needs and disability support (SEND) looking at: reform following The Children and Families Act 2014; pressure on ‘high needs’ funding; and findings from two recent Education Committee reports which identified widespread problems in support for children and young people with SEND.

This has been prepared for new MPs, and is an excellent introduction to SEND.

The introduction says,

It is more than five years since the Coalition Government’s reforms of support for children and young people in England with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) came into effect. There is growing evidence of major strain on the system, both in funding shortfalls and ineffective implementation.

For more information about SESLIP support for SEND, please contact Tracey Maytas (details below)

Access to CAMHS – EPI’s Annual Report

The Education Policy Institute (EPI) has published its Annual Report on access to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). 

The study examines access to specialist services, waiting times for treatment, and provision for the most vulnerable children in England.

The research is based on new data obtained using freedom of information (FOI) requests to mental health providers and local authorities over the course of a year. This data is not published by the NHS. The majority of lifelong mental health problems develop early on, during childhood or adolescence. The wider economic costs of mental ill health in England are vast, estimated at £105bn each year.

You can download the full report here. 

Developing Models of Social Work Project – Hold the Date Monday 8 June 2020

The Developing Models of Social Work Summer Conference will be held on Monday 8 June at the Arora Hotel Gatwick.

More details of this project can be found here, or from Diane Williamson (contact details below)

ASGLB Making Better Use of Data Workshop – 14 February

The ASGLB is undertaking a review of whether we are making good use of all the data that is already collected in relation to children in care, and in particular with respect to special guardianship and adoption.

To provide a framework for the review, they have drafted a Data Model to provide a structure for their thinking. This is intended to address both adoption and special guardianship with respect to children who are taken into care. 

1. Permanency Planning – are appropriate permanence plans for children in place in a timely manner?
2. Securing Permanency – is permanency achieved for a child without unnecessary delay?
3. Maintaining Permanency – once permanency is achieved, are we maintaining it so that children are able to thrive?

As part of this review ASGLB are running three workshops which will be held at Coram Campus, London WC1N 1AZ on:

• 18 December 2019 (Permanency Planning) – (already held)
• 31 January 2020 (Securing Permanency) – (already held)
• 14 February 2020 (Maintaining Permanency) – book here

The ASGLB want these workshops to be attended by people who can help them define the Data Model as well as those who are familiar with the data currently. For more information follow the links provided above.