Chapter 28: Children at risk
To advance the Government's goal to eradicate child poverty and tackle social exclusion, this review examined best practices in local partnership delivery of integrated children's services, and identified barriers to better coordination. The review also sought to establish key objectives for children's services, to identify obstacles to meeting those objectives, and to assess departmental spending and priorities against those findings. As a result, this Spending Review takes a three-pronged approach to strengthening preventative services:
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28.1 While the vast majority of children and young people look forward to being better educated, wealthier, physically healthier and living longer than their parents, it is still a matter of concern that a substantial minority face a combination of problems which result in persistently poor outcomes in terms of educational achievement, employment, health and anti-social behaviour. As well as the human cost, the long term costs to society can be enormous.
28.2 The Pre-Budget report "Tackling child poverty: giving every child the best possible start in life" published in November 2001 restated the Government's commitment to eradicating child poverty. The key message of the document was that child poverty and disadvantage can only be overcome through a joint approach of raising incomes and delivering better public services. This review confirms that approach and the focus of activity on early prevention of adverse outcomes and social exclusion.
28.3 Children at risk do not form a self-contained, easily defined group. Many children and young people can be vulnerable to risk factors such as poor parenting, disability and poverty at some point in their development. Without the support of preventative and appropriately targeted services, these risk factors can lead to crisis and in some cases lasting effects which perpetuate the cycle of deprivation, social exclusion and poverty. The review developed outcomes to minimise those risks faced by some of the most disadvantaged so that all children can achieve their full potential and benefit from new opportunities and increased prosperity.
Outcomes
28.4 The review found that despite extensive investment in services for children, most services are not having the desired positive impact on the most disadvantaged children. Key issues include insufficient local ownership by key agencies of the needs of children at risk, and the lack of a strategic vision pulling together the contribution of different local services and agencies to ensure that children receive appropriate support. The recommendations seek to ensure that support for children at risk is better focused on both preventative services and the preventative elements of mainstream services that address the known risk factors. These fall into three main areas: delivering sustainable services; improving strategic coordination; and filling gaps and improving services.
Strategic coordination of services at local level
28.5 Achieving integration of services requires strong leadership at both national and local level underpinned by effective performance management, driving forward reform. This reform has already begun in many areas with agreed joint priorities, streamlined and coordinated local services for children. The Government believes that it is crucial to build on these inter-agency developments, enabling different structures and financial arrangements to develop. In turn local partners must agree to carry out new functions including: better strategic planning; systematic identification, referral and tracking regimes to ensure children don't fall through the services safety net; and allocating responsibilities for individualised packages of support for those at greatest risk. The Government believes there is a case for structural change to effect the better coordination of children's services, and will pilot Children's Trusts which will unify at the local level the various agencies involved in providing services to children
Delivering sustainable services
28.6 Mainstream services fail a significant minority of children and young people because they often focus on the majority and ignore specific needs. Services also focus on crisis and acute intervention rather than prevention and early identification of need. To address this, the Government has introduced targeted programmes, such as Sure Start and the Children's Fund, with discrete delivery arrangements outside mainstream public services. However, the review recommends the adoption of a common framework for integrating the lessons learned from successful programmes so that mainstream services are better able to respond to the full range of children and young people's needs on a fairer and more equitable basis. Within this framework the review recommended the following proposals to facilitate greater integration to meet the needs of all children:
- multi-disciplinary working underpinned by core learning and skills objectives across all statutory and voluntary agencies; and
- integrated service delivery and co-location of services to ensure better coordination, the maximum use of capital investment and support for 'mainstreaming' approaches.
Filling gaps and improving services
28.7 While the main outcome of the review was to change the way people work in order to improve children's services, small residual gaps in service provision were identified and have been addressed in this Spending Review. For example, the Government is developing a national framework for improving the support that is available for parents and families at a local level. Evidence shows that the voluntary sector is often best placed to provide these services but that where the sector is poorly resourced, provision can be patchy. The Government is determined to broaden further access to education in parenting skills and this will be supported by the new investment fund being created to expand involvement of the voluntary sector (see Chapter 30).
Spending plans
28.8 Considerable investment in the 2002 Spending Review will go to mainstream services as an incentive to improve the way children's services are delivered:
- of the £12.8 billion additional funding for Education and Skills in England, a sizeable proportion will target deprivation. There is an increase in the discretionary resources available to head teachers so that they have more flexibility to meet the differing needs of the students, including the most disadvantaged - in addition to extra money for behaviour and education support teams and extended schools;
- the Home Office plays a key role in helping to identify and support children and young people at risk, for example, the Youth Justice Board supports a range of preventative initiatives, including youth inclusion work and support programmes for young people most at risk of offending;
- as part of the extra investment in Personal and Social Services announced in the Budget - an average growth rate of 6 per cent above inflation over the Spending Review period - there will be new investment in Children's Social Services, including Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services; and
- there will also be extra investment in deprived areas through the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (worth £525 million a year by 2005-06) and the mainstream spending supporting the Government's National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal.