Family Policy Digest

Munro Review of Child Protection

Professor Eileen Munro has been commissioned by the Government to carry out an independent review to improve child protection. The stated aim is to reform front-line social work practice and to strengthen the profession so that social workers are in a better position to make well-informed judgements, based on up-to-date evidence, in the best interests of children, free from unnecessary bureaucracy and regulation. The review is to build on the work of Lord Laming's Progress Report (March 2009) and the Social Work Task Force, drawing on the evidence submitted to these reviews and the extensive analyses undertaken to inform them. Links will be maintained between this review and the continuing work of the Social Work Reform Board, and with the work taking place as part of the Family Justice Review. The final report is to be produced by April 2011 with an interim report due in January 2011 and a first report in September 2010.

A call for evidence has been issued looking for examples of local innovations and new approaches to child protection as well as improved front-line social work practice. Full details can be found on the Review website. Submissions should be sent by Friday 30 July 2010.

June 2010

safeguarding

Family perspectives on safeguarding and on relationships with children's services

The Children's Commissioner for England

This research study was commissioned as part of the Commissioner's commitment to disseminate the views and experiences of children and young people. The planning of the research was undertaken with the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes (C4EO) who were interested in exploring ideas around resistance from families receiving child protection services and the type of practice which would be most effective. This research report therefore links to the C4EO knowledge review: 'Effective practice to protect children living in 'highly resistant' families'. This study addresses the experience and views of those engaged with social work services, with the intention of providing insight into how they perceived the notion of resistance. Key findings included that many of the family members felt that services should have a "family focus", understanding the problems of all family members and having access to both adults' and children's services. Current arrangements separated out the response to issues such as domestic abuse, mental ill health, disability and alcohol and drug problems which had a family-wide impact. There was a lack of "whole family approaches".

The report can be downloaded from the Children's Commissioner's website.

June 2010

safeguarding

Cutting the Children's Plan

Centre for Policy Studies

Subtitled "a £5 billion experiment gone astray", the report accepts that social mobility and the opportunities of disadvantaged children are low but argues that it is doubtful whether the programmes in the Children's Plan can ever achieve the high ambitions set out for them, suggesting most are flawed both in concept and in practice. It identifies a range of problems in funded programmes including:

• highly level of centralisation, with regulations, "guidance on best practice" and funding all being controlled by the DCSF/DfE;
• heavy influence of prevailing educational and child-rearing orthodoxies;
• issues with transparency and accountability as implementation of programmes is left to a complex web of quangos, charities, private companies and local authorities.
• evaluation of programmes has been criticised as weak by the House of Commons Health Select Committee.

It argues for an alternative approach, which can be applied to many of the more useful elements of the Children's Plan (including Sure Start), giving local authorities the discretion to implement and fund these programmes. This approach would enable decisions to be taken at a local, not a national, level and improve accountability, innovation and further local involvement; cut £1.9 billion a year (in terms of the 2010-11 budget) from the Children's Plan; devolve responsibility for an additional £2.3 billion a year to local government and leave leave £0.8 billion with central government.

The report can be downloaded from the Centre for Policy Studies website.

June 2010

national strategy

In loco parentis

Demos

Comparisons between looked after children and the rest of the population have consistently shown that care leavers are one of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in society. The report argues that it is wrong and overly simplistic to assume that the care system is wholly responsible for this disadvantage, and is therefore 'failing' all those who enter care. It uses an in-depth review of existing data and research studies, to show that there are a number of factors that influence outcomes among children in care, not least their pre-care experiences; and that looked-after children, far from being a homogeneous group, enter care for a variety of reasons and have very different needs. It uses new quantitative analysis of the costs associated with good and poor care journeys, to demonstrate the significant gains to be made by minimising delay and drift, promoting stability in placements and supporting young people's transitions to adulthood. The report sets out recommendations to de-stigmatise care as a source of family support and 'taper' the edges of the system so that care is not used as an all-or-nothing intervention. It argues that what matters most is building a care system which is sufficiently proactive and responsive to provide the right kind of support for children and their families at every stage.

The report can be downloaded from the Demos website.

June 2010

national strategy

Family justice review

Ministry of Justice

Views on how the family justice system can do its best to protect children and help families to work through their disagreements are being sought by a panel of experts. The Family Justice Review Panel, appointed by the Ministry of Justice, the Department for Education, and the Welsh Assembly Government, today launched a 'Call for Evidence' so that anyone with an interest in the family justice system can contribute their views on how it can work better in the future. This is part of a fundamental review of the system announced by the Government in the coalition agreement. The Review will be comprehensive in scope including looking at how to improve use of mediation and provide better access rights to non-resident parents and grandparents. The 'Call for Evidence' is seeking views on key areas of the family justice system including how to have a more user-friendly and child-focused system; the best methods of resolving family disputes, using alternatives to legal process, and how the system is governed, managed, and funded.

Questions the Panel is seeking views on include:

• How can the justice system focus more on helping family members to reach agreement rather than pitting them against each other?
• How best can the courts working with other agencies support children involved in the care system?
• How best can the system provide greater contact rights to non-resident parents and grandparents?
• The evidence will be carefully considered and used to inform the Review's recommendations on how to improve the system.

Further details can be found on the Ministry of Justice website.

June 2010

family courts

Fatherhood Commission

Children's Society

The Commission, set up by the Children's Society, aims to gather evidence from a range of children, professionals and the general public, to present a child centred case for the importance of fatherhood. It is committed to representing the views of a diverse range of children, especially those who have little or no contact with their fathers. The project hopes to be able to identify, understand and raise awareness of the barriers to father-child relationships and to produce a set of recommendations about how they might be removed.

The Commission has issued a call for evidence from children, experts, and the general public. Details of this can be found on the Society's website.

The Commission has released research examining the links between young people's relationships with their fathers and their mothers, and their well-being and self-esteem.

The report can also be downloaded from the Society's website.

June 2010

fathers

Family Intervention Projects - a classic case of policy-based evidence

Centre for Crime and Justice Studies

In this briefing, the Centre discusses critically the attitude of the New Labour government to the academic evaluations of Family Intervention Projects (FIPs). It argues that the claimed success rate of FIPs, which offered intensive support to families to combat anti-social behaviour, was only based on a small sample of families who were "the most compliant". It suggests that the government failed to take seriously the clear messages that evaluators were offering about the efficacy of FIPs and the impact the policy was having on families with significant mental health problems and other social vulnerabilities. Instead, it argues, the government had already decided on the policy and distorted the evidence base provided by successive evaluations in press briefings and other public pronouncements to justify an ongoing expansion of the FIP programme.

The report can be downloaded from the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies website.

June 2010

anti-social behaviour

Budget June 2010

Measures in the Coalition's first Budget include:

• restricted eligibility to the Sure Start Maternity Grant;
• the abolition of the Health in Pregnancy Grant from January 2011; and
• a freeze on Child Benefit.

The full budget report and speech are available from the HM Treasury website.

June 2010

tax and benefits

Childhood and Families Taskforce

Childhood and Families Taskforce

The Government has announced that the taskforce will be chaired by Prime Minister David Cameron and include senior ministers from across government. It will review access to play facilities and emotional support for families and children in the community as well as the sexualisation of children in marketing. The intended role of the group will be to identify and prioritise a small number of specific policy proposals that will make the biggest difference to children and families. Other linked concerns include childhood obesity, bullying and mental health problems among young people. A strong focus is the increased role charities and local community groups can play in supporting families. The taskforce aims to complete its review by the autumn ahead of the next public spending review.

More information about the Taskforce can be found on the Cabinet Office website.

June 2010

couple relationships

Intergenerational practice: outcomes and effectiveness

National Foundation for Educational Research (nfer)

The National Foundation for Educational Research, with the National Youth Agency (NYA) and National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), was commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA) to examine what works in intergenerational practice. Intergenerational practice refers to activities that bring together older adults and young people or children. Five intergenerational projects were selected to cover a range of foci and target groups, focusing on football, arts, knife crime, living history, and personal and social education. Key findings included:

• The most fundamental outcome for all participants is that they enjoy the activities. They also develop friendships, gain increased understanding of the other age group, gain confidence and develop new skills.
• Specific outcomes for young people include positive benefits for academic work and improved relationships with grandparents. Additional outcomes experienced by older people relate to their well-being. More general outcomes include greater community cohesion. There is some evidence of potential negative outcomes, if stereotypes are reinforced through activities.
• Challenges centred on recruitment and selection of both young and older people, the activities provided, and the organisation and logistics of intergenerational work.
• A range of key factors of effective intergenerational practice were also identified.

The report can be downloaded from the nfer website.

June 2010

community

British crime survey

Home Office

The Home Office has released an experimental version of its crime figures aimed at giving a clearer picture of how young victims are affected by their ordeal. This shows that while there were 2.1 million incidents in total during 2009 where a 10- to 15-year-old was a victim of a crime, about half of these were minor incidents, such as stealing dinner money in a school playground. In only 404,000 cases did the young person see themselves as a victim of a crime. The figures are also broken down further to show that the majority of incidents happened within school and were handled by senior school staff without court or police involvement. Just 643,000 incidents occurred outside school, the figures reveal. The government has launched a consultation around this experimental approach to releasing crime figures.

The report, Experimental statistics on victimisation of children aged 10 to 15: Findings from the British Crime Survey for the year ending December 2009 - England and Wales, can be downloaded from the Home Office website.

June 2010

youth justice

Positivity in practice: approaches to improving perceptions of young people and their involvement in crime and anti-social behaviour

National Foundation for Educational Research (nfer)

There is a mismatch between perceptions and reality about the scale of young people's involvement in crime and anti-social behaviour. This research corroborate this finding from previous research and government policy. It also notes that such negative perceptions are detrimental to both young people and their communities. It highlights the range of approaches that local authorities (LAs) and their partner organisations are undertaking to improve how young people are perceived in their communities, especially in relation to crime and anti-social behaviour. It also describes the methods used by LAs to measure the impact of activities on perceptions. The study raises a number of issues that can be taken forward by policy makers and strategic leads at both national and local level. These include the need to:

• undertake a local audit of current activities designed to impact positively on perceptions. This will support future strategic planning and co-ordination.
• measure the impact of activities more systematically.
• ensure systematic and ongoing communication of positive activities involving young people and the impacts achieved.
• develop the skills and knowledge of operational staff with local or regional training activities, toolkits, and guidance documents.
• provide a policy steer that is specific to addressing negative perceptions about young people.

The report can be downloaded from the nfer website.

June 2010

community