Children adn adult social services

Question 1

Why do local authorities have to provide social services

Answer 1

Under various Acts local authorities are required to provide services by law, for example child protection.
This is known as statutory spending, that the local authority has no option other than to provide.
Additional spending, known as discretionary spending, is not required by law and much of this has been cut as a result of austerity measures.

Question 2

What does social services include

Answer 2

• Child protection.
• Domestic and residential care for elderly and disabled people.
• Care for those need mental health care.

Question 3

Child protection

Answer 3

Local authorities have a statutory obligation of provide protection for vulnerable children.
Social workers are often criticised for intervening too early and breaking up families, or intervening too late and leaving children at risk of abuse or neglect.
Following an infamous case involving an eight-year-old girl Victoria Climbie, who was tortured and murdered by her great aunt and her boyfriend, an enquiry under Lord Laming was set up to review child protection laws.
Laming’s recommendations were incorporated into a Green Paper ‘Every Child Matters’ and ultimately the 2004 Children’s Act.
The idea was to improve coordination between agencies such as social work, the police, education and the NHS and to encourage early intervention when children were at risk.

Question 4

Child protection under the act

Answer 4

• Local Authority Social Services Departments were reorganised as Children’s Services Departments, which include social care and education.
• They are the responsibility of county councils, unitary authorities and London boroughs.
• The Act set up council-run Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards (LSCB), charged with coordinating the various agencies involved in delivering services and monitoring their effectiveness.
• The Act also introduced individual Child Protection Plans, drawn up by professionals to assess a child’s degree of risk.
• The Act set up the role of the Children’s Commissioner, currently Maggie Atkinson. http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/

Question 5

How can social workers intervene?

Answer 5

• Care Orders: If social workers believe a child is at serious risk of abuse or neglect if they remain with a parent or guardian, they can apply to a family court for a Care Order.
• If the court agrees, the child is taken away form parents or guardian and the local authority takes the role of the parent. Parents/guardians are allowed ‘reasonable access to the child’, unless the court prohibits this.
• Interim Care Order/Emergency Protection Order: In urgent cases social workers can apply for these and they must satisfy the judge that there is “reasonable cause to believe the child will suffer considerable harm” if left in situ. These last for eight days and renewable for a further week.
• Supervision Order: Child remains with parent/guardian but the local authority has a duty to advise and assist the child. These can be converted into care orders if the risk remains.

Question 6

What happens if a child is taken from their family?

Answer 6

• Children’s homes – can be run by the local authority or charities. Must be registered and are inspected by Ofsted.
• Fostering – can be short or long term. This allows children to be cared for in a family environment. Foster parents have to be vetted and are paid allowances. There is a national shortage of foster parents.
• Adoption – difference with fostering is that adoption is permanent. The current government has tried to speed up the adoption process.

Question 7

Rotherham child abuse scandal

Answer 7

• Described as “the biggest child protection scandal” in UK history
• From the early 1990s for 20 years up to 1,400 young girls, some as young as 12, were gang raped, tortured and trafficked
• SY Police and Rotherham social services knew what was going on – but did nothing
• The abuse was only revealed to the public by journalist Andrew Norfolk who wrote a series of articles for the Times from 2011
• Rotherham’s chief executive, director of children’s services and the SY PCC all resigned
• Because of these failings the Government appointed commissioners to take over the running of the council from councillors and officers
• Services have gradually been returned to council control – but Children’s Services is still controlled by commissioners
• 2016/17 – 19 men and two women were convicted of sex offences against children dating back to the 1980s. One ringleader was jailed for 35 years

Question 8

Adult social care

Answer 8

Local authorities also have a responsibility to provide domestic and residential care for elderly and disabled people.
• Local authorities must carry out an assessment of an individual’s needs
• Care in people’s own homes may include home helps (assistance with washing, dressing and housework), hot meals etc.
• Other care includes day centres and luncheon clubs.
• Councils can charge for some services if the client has sufficient income or savings.
• Some services may be provided by private companies or the voluntary sector.
• Elderly or infirm people taken into residential care may be required to pay for their care if they have savings of more than £23,250.
• Many elderly people are forced to sell their homes to pay for care.
• The Dilnot Enquiry recommended there should be a cap on these charges. The last Coalition government set the cap at £72,000 from 2016, but this deadline has slipped and currently (January 2018) has not been implemented
• Council run and private care homes are regulated and inspected by the Care Quality Commission, which carries out inspections and issues reports. http://www.cqc.org.uk/