Finding homes for vulnerable children – MPs question experts on reforming children’s social care
The Education Committee examines the “crisis” in the social services workforce and ways to improve foster care, adoption and kinship care.
In this session of the cross-party Committee’s inquiry into children’s social care, MPs questions leaders of Adoption UK, the Fostering Network and Kinship, as well as experts from academia and frontline services.
Meeting details
About 68% of children under the legal responsibility of English local authorities are in foster care, but there are concerns that the number of foster carers is falling due to insufficient financial support from councils. MPs will question the effectiveness of the Government’s strategy to boost recruitment and diversity among carers, and proposals for regional commissioning under Regional Care Cooperatives.
There will be questions about the system of adoption – where legal responsibility for looking after a child is transferred to new guardians, usually with total separation from birth parents. AdoptionUK, whose CEO is speaking in this session, has said adopted children are more likely to face exclusion from school, while the number of families wishing to adopt has declined with children waiting on average 2.5 years to be adopted, up 25% since 2019. MPs will ask about ideas for how recruitment and waiting times could be improved.
Discussion will turn to kinship care, where a child lives with a relative or family friend. The most commonly used type of arrangement, it is said to help children maintain family ties and be less costly for councils. However the Office for National Statistics 2021 Census found that children in kinship care are more likely to experience poorer economic circumstances compared with foster care or adoption. Witnesses will be asked how kinship carers could be better supported, including financially. Eight local authorities are trialing direct financial support, in line with the current foster care allowance rate, as part of a government strategy.
In part two of the session, MPs hear from experts about recruitment and retention of social workers. The charity Frontline, whose CEO is on the second panel, has said 40% more social workers left the profession last year than in the previous five. The Association of Professors of Social Work, also giving evidence, say the workforce is in “crisis” as applications to social work qualifications are falling.
The Government is consulting on a draft Early Career Framework for social workers, funding a 14-month training programme, funding a three-year training course and grants for over 400 new apprenticeships. The Government also wants to improve retention through developing resources to reduce workload. There will be questions on the effectiveness of these measures, and around councils’ spending on agency workers to plug gaps.
The Committee also looks at how social workers can aid reunification of children with their birth families, with an NSPCC and Action for Children joint report, ‘Home Again: reunification practice in England’, showing significant financial savings alongside better outcomes for children.