Social Care News and Features

The care review will focus on ensuring love, stability and safety for children, whether in their families or in care, chair Josh MacAlister has said as it started work yesterday.

An early plan for the review said it would deliver early conclusions by the summer and would focus on tackling racial disparities in care and the experiences of children with special educational needs and those in the criminal justice system.

Launching a call for evidence to inform the review, chair Josh MacAlister also said that its focus would extend up to young adulthood, to support children’s transition to independence.

MacAlister said that the review’s overarching question was how to ensure children grow up in loving, stable and safe families and, where that is not possible, care provides the same foundations.

He said the review would “listen deeply to those who have experienced children’s social care about what a childhood with love means to them and how it can be achieved”, and that stability would be considered broadly, in relation to where children lived and with whom, and where they were educated.

Safety would be considered in relation to harm from inside and outside the home. MacAlister said that children’s social care at its best could achieve all three but would often need to undertake a “balancing act” when taking action to keep children safe whilst keeping in mind love and stability.

Tackling racial disparities

MacAlister said the review would examine racial disparities, including why children from certain ethnic groups were more likely to be in care and what can be done to address this. Government figures show Black children and those from mixed backgrounds are disproportionately represented in the care system.

MacAlister said it was “critical” the review learned from care experienced adults to enable the review team to think about what support may be needed into adulthood.

Its work will start with a review of the evidence around children’s social care, which will be carried out by a team of researchers within the review team. The review has called on researchers to submit their thinking on the strength of the existing evidence base and where there are gaps.

Proposals for change by the summer

MacAlister said that the review would publish its early conclusions, setting out what needed to change in children’s social care, in the summer, a timescale that was questioned by some on social media. The whole review is expected to take 12-15 months, less than half the length of the three-year review of Scotland’s care system that reported last year.

England’s review has set up a website to provide updates on progress and how people can get involved in its work.

It also announced the members of its experts by experience group. Though there was heavy criticism from some care experienced people and sector commentators of the way they were selected, there was a positive welcome on social media for the group’s’ members (see below).

MacAlister has said that the review will publish plans in the next two to three weeks for more ways to hear voices of those with experience and get them involved and that “these would include a place for every person who wants to get involved”.

Meanwhile, Shazia Hussain has been announced as head of the team of civil servants who will support MacAlister in carrying out the review. The review is also advertising for a head of stakeholder and public engagement.