30 March 2007
The social services inspectorate has listed 21 systematic failures to protect the most vulnerable children and warned that these might 'get lost' as responsibility for inspection is passed to Ofsted.
The Commission for Social Care Inspection's last report, Children's services: CSCI findings 2004–2007, found: 'serious shortfalls' in mental health services and expertise that lead to the detention of 'too many' mentally ill children in secure units; the overuse of physical restraint and medication; 'confusion' and 'insufficient priority' around protection from abuse; and 'very serious issues' around unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
'The tension between efficiency and quality is increasing,' the report said. 'There is a real question as to whether there is sufficient capacity and effective management in the system to deliver Every Child Matters successfully in all areas.'
From April 1, Ofsted will assume responsibility for inspecting the social care services received by some 300,000 children as part of its aggregated assessment of the entirety of councils' children's services, including schools and leisure facilities.
But the CSCI used its March 27 report to repeat its warning: 'The risk is that the very specific issues relating to children in touch with social care services will get lost in the wider picture.'
Chair Dame Denise Platt said: 'Getting it right for all these children involves listening and talking with them… that's proven, but it's extremely difficult to achieve.'
Recent central government attention has focused on the under-achievement and disproportionate exclusion rate of children in care. But the CSCI also draws attention to failures at the intersection between adult and children's services, which will now be inspected by separate bodies. These include family support services to which access is now 'severely restricted'.
'Families in considerable stress, on the threshold of family breakdown and serious harm are not getting the sustained support they need,' said the CSCI. It added that in some areas, the level of child protection concerns required before any intervention was 'inappropriately high'.
Funding cuts and heightened eligibility criteria for adult social care had also had a direct impact on child welfare, the report continued, highlighting the fact that many children are vulnerable to harm as a result of their parent's need or disability.
'Too often, [parents] are given short term irregular support at times of crisis, which may be withdrawn as soon as they feel able to cope,' the report found.
'Many families face a mix of complex problems at the same time. Children's services focus on the need to protect children without the same level of attention being paid to sort out the root causes of the issue: the problems of their parents,' it concluded.
PFmar2007
