Child Care Solicitors

The Department for Education (DfE) and Education Secretary Nicky Morgan MP have announced a £200 million package to transform services for the most vulnerable children and young people.

A new programme will revolutionise support for the most vulnerable children and families across the country, backed by new freedoms for town halls to provide life changing services for troubled young people, the Education Secretary said.

The government’s Children’s Social Care Innovation programme represents a radical change in the way vulnerable families are supported – and will kick start the most promising proposals for new ways of delivering help to troubled children and young people.

The government is calling on councils and charities to come forward with bids for innovative and creative ideas to improve life chances for young people in their local area, which will be funded by a share in the £200m funding.

The new investment follows the first round of the innovation programme announced in summer 2014, which has funded more than 50 programmes across the country, backed by £100m.

Schemes funded to date include £4.3m for Pause – an innovative programme helping women to break the cycle of repeat pregnancies, resulting in high numbers of children being taken into care. Pause is reaching its target of working with 160 women – who have had 568 children removed between them – across the current seven Pause Practices in London and the Yorkshire region. Figures show there have been no pregnancies to date among the women being helped by the Pause programme. Many women are now in safe accommodation, receiving help and support from domestic violence or mental health services – and are engaged in training and education, as well as volunteering and employment, says the government.

Barnardo’s and the Local Government Association also received £1m to back a special outreach scheme for girls and young women at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM). The programme works directly with communities with a high rate of FGM, as well as GPs, social workers and teachers to prevent, protect and treat girls and women at risk. Special community workers also reach out to men, helping to change attitudes and behaviour in communities that traditionally practise FGM. To date, the programme has helped more than 100 children and young people across the pilot sites.

The London Triborough (Hammersmith and Fulham, Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) also received £4m to help redesign how they deliver frontline children’s social care, freeing up social workers to spend more time with vulnerable children and families. Since receiving funding, two of the three councils in the Triborough have been rated outstanding by Ofsted for their services for vulnerable children and families –
the only councils in the country to be rated outstanding. Ofsted reports state that he government’s innovation programme was key to the rating.

Children and Families Minister Edward Timpson – who was a family barrister for ten years and whose own family fostered more than 90 children – said:

“I know from my time at the Bar and my experience of fostering that when it comes to supporting our most vulnerable young people, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach.

“That’s why we are calling on councils and professionals to continue digging deep, thinking radically – and doing whatever it takes to find new and better ways of delivering for our most vulnerable children.”

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan added:

“Every single child deserves the chance to fulfil their potential, regardless of their background.

“Yet it remains a stark fact that we don’t yet have excellent children’s social services everywhere – and when our most vulnerable children and families don’t receive the support they need, it can literally be a matter of life and death.

“Where there is failure, we can no longer sit by and watch – we know children flourish when they are supported by leaders who have been given the freedom to translate their expertise, passion and drive into providing life-changing support; and that’s why today we’re inviting charities and councils to come forward with their most creative ideas to transform the lives of those most in need, because no ambition can be too great when it comes to transforming children’s life chances.

“We’ve already seen how local services are ready to innovate and come up with new ideas to tackle entrenched problems.”

Duncan Lewis Children Lawyers

Duncan Lewis is a leading firm of specialist child care lawyers able to advise on family and child care law under UK law and Islamic law, including:

• Adoption & international adoption
• Child abuse
• Children taken into Local Authority care
• Child care arrangements
• Co-parenting
• Court orders
• Court of Protection
• Family mediation services
• FGM
• Forced marriage
• Guardianship
• International child abduction
• Pre-proceedings meetings
• Section 38 enquiries
• Surrogacy
• Wardship
• Wills and trusts.

There are Duncan Lewis offices nationwide – and Duncan Lewis is a leading firm of Legal Aid lawyers.

For expert legal advice on family and child care law, call Duncan Lewis children lawyers on 0333 772 0409.