Responding to the Government’s ‘biggest overhaul in a generation’ to the children’s social care system, NCB has issued the following statement:
We welcome the Government’s commitment to rebalancing the Children’s Social Care system with a renewed focus on early intervention, accountability, and oversight.
To achieve these goals, it is crucial that this ambitious rhetoric is supported by adequate funding. This will ensure that local authorities and non-profit partners have the capacity and support they need to step into this space.
Additionally, the necessary investment in earlier help must sit alongside a better approach to providing needs-led outcome-focused care in specialist settings. If these are to enable children and young people with complex and intersecting needs to thrive, we need evidence-informed models of therapeutic care delivered by a skilled and confident workforce.
For Ofsted to effectively exercise its new powers, the regulator must have the necessary capacity and expertise. Addressing profiteering and ensuring financial transparency will require a sophisticated understanding of the opaque ownership structures used by large companies and corporate groups behind much care provision. Disrupting the social care ‘market’ must be carefully managed to minimise any disruption to children’s lives, prioritising their needs and ensuring that quality and safety remain paramount.
Despite these concerns, today is a day to celebrate as the government adopts a whole new approach to children’s social care. This new focus on early intervention encourages services to step in early to solve problems as they first emerge in a family’s life, and it gives children and young people a voice in decisions about their futures.