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Child Care Solicitors
Peterborough City Council to launch new Family Safeguarding Service (30 March 2017)
Date: 30/03/2017
Peterborough City Council is to pilot a new Family Safeguarding Service, after being awarded £2.8 million in funding from the Department for Education.
The council says the award will enable it to create a new Family Safeguarding Service, which brings together into one team staff from a number of agencies who work with children under 13 and their families.
The team will tackle the toxic trio of domestic abuse, substance misuse and mental health issues that place children at risk of significant harm.
The aim is to reduce the number of children needing to be subject to Child Protection and to avoid care proceedings leading to children coming into care wherever possible.
It follows an initial pilot scheme by Hertfordshire Council Council, which has achieved a 40% reduction in child protection numbers and a 6.5% reduction in children coming into care as a result of significant harm.
Recruitment to support the expansion of the service will now begin, said the council and the new service is expected to launch in September 2017.
Peterborough City Council Cabinet Member for children's services, Councillor Sam Smith, said:
“This is excellent news and will have a significant impact on the future of children’s social care in Peterborough.
“Keeping children safe from harm is our top priority, which is why this investment is so important – the new Family Safeguarding Service will allow us to develop child protection and enable more children to be brought up safely in their own families.
“In practical terms, it will allow a social worker to visit a family with known drugs problems, along with a colleague from drugs support. The team will also have training on motivational interviewing techniques to help the family start helping themselves.
“It's still early days for the Hertfordshire scheme, but there are promising signs of success – and we want to take that a step further and see how it might work in Peterborough to improve the lives of our children and families.”
The Department for Education (DfE) introduced the Innovation Programme to act as a catalyst for transforming the child protection system in England.
The council’s bid to the DfE was in partnership with Hertfordshire County Council, Luton Borough Council, Bracknell Forest Council and West Berkshire Council.
The total funding for all councils is more than £11 million.
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For expert legal advice on family and child care matters, call Duncan Lewis children lawyers on 0333 772 0409.