Record number of children in care as social services reach ‘tipping point’

Dec 29, 2017 by Jill

by May Bulman, Independent:

The number of children in care has reached a record high, with 90 young people entering the care system each day, figures show.

Amid ongoing cuts to children’s centres and local family support services, the number of looked-after children in England and Wales reached 72,670 in the 12 months to March 2017 – marking the biggest annual surge of children in care in seven years.

Campaigners said the figures highlight the urgent need for the Chancellor to use his Autumn Budget next month to address the £2bn funding gap facing children’s services by 2020, or place a growing number of children at risk.

The rise in children entering care has been put down to problems in households, such as poverty, poor housing and substance misuse, which experts said have been exacerbated by cuts to local services intended to tackle them.

It comes after it emerged in August that as many as 140,000 vulnerable children at risk of abuse and neglect might not be getting help because cash-strapped local authorities have been forced to shrink or abandon family support.

Read here