Additional Funding for Child Mental Health Social Workers
NHS England has launched a new framework for mental health social work which aims to tackle the gaps in care and postcode lottery associated with mental health service provision. The new framework will reduce bureaucracy and administration as well as funding the recruitment of 600 additional social workers. A key aim of the new framework […]
Care System in Crisis says Children’s Commissioner
Research published by the Children’s Commissioner’s Office has highlighted the pressures on the care system in England due to rising demand from teenagers. The research found that the number of children in care aged 13 or over rose by 21% between 2013 and 2018, while the number aged five or under fell by 15%. There […]
BBC Newsnight Report Highlights Thousands of Teenagers In Care “abandoned to organised crime gangs”.
BBC Newsnight has reported that the number of looked-after children aged 16 and over living in unregistered accommodation in England has increased 70% in a decade. Their report claimed that much of this accommodation was sub-standard and made children an ‘easy target’ for recruitment by criminal gangs. This is borne out by the work we […]
Exploitation of young people by ‘County Lines’ drug gangs
The rise of so called ‘County Lines’ drug trafficking, where dealers based in major cities expand their territories into smaller towns, using railway lines for transport and recruiting local children and vulnerable adults as ‘mules,’ is a growing issue for everyone involved in child social care. CF are currently part of a Suffolk County Council […]
Children’s Commissioner calls for improvements in Early Intervention Services
Anne Longfield, the children’s commissioner for England, recently stated that “the biggest social challenge of our time” is finding ways to support the estimated 2.1 million children in England who are in vulnerable family situations. Of these, nearly 500,000 are outside of the established child support services and only come to attention when matters have […]
CFSS Supports Health and Education Project in Kenya
A good education has a direct correlation with life chances for children everywhere in the world. In many African societies it is still a luxury that has a low priority when daily life can be hard. CF are proud to have been able to help the Maasai Health and Educational Fund bring education to Oldarpoi Camp […]
Government amends Data Protection Bill to reflect Safeguarding concerns
Child protection professionals have welcomed new amendments by the House of Commons this week which will bring clarity around how they can process and share sensitive personal information relating to physical and mental health, sex life and criminal allegations, relating to children at risk, or persons of interest who might pose a risk. Although the […]
CF Join Suffolk Initiative to tackle Gang Crime
CF Support Services have seconded a Senior Support Worker to a special urban street gang team formed by Suffolk police to crack down on violent gang crime in Ipswich. The creation of a taskforce to combat gang violence and crime came after an escalation in knife crimes which police believe are associated with gangs, often […]
Troubled Families programme makes progress
The Troubled Families programme has made “significant progress” reducing pressure on children’s social care services, according to the government’s annual evaluation report. The report, published today, says the programme has supported 289,809 families since its launch in 2015, with 104,809 families joining in the last 12 months. 33% of families were making progress in achieving […]