The child welfare items we’ve found today that we think offer something interesting.

Media Not Being Notified About Family Hearings

The case involving Haringey Council and PA Media Group made waves for the council’s shocking child protection failings, but what has since stemmed from the case is that the media are not being notified of hearings being held remotely.

This is certainly an area that the President of the Family Division should be looking into – technology makes us more efficient in a purely administrative context, not less so, and should also be of interest to journalists and court reporters.

There’s no reason why journalists can’t hop on to a remote hearing if permission to open up a case has been granted.

You can access the most recent judgment for this case, and the confirmation that the media are not being notified about remote hearings before they take place, here. 

Gillick competency and Fraser guidelines

The NSPCC has produced fact sheets on Gillick competency and Fraser guidelines, the tests used to determine whether a child is mature enough to make decisions about significant things that affect them.

The fact sheets explain the tests and offer information on how they’re applied and in what contexts they are used. These tests are often used in child proceedings in the family courts.

You can access the Home Page for these sheets here.

And Myka Stauffer loses major sponsorship deal after returning her adopted son.

The YouTube influencer who gave back her adopted son and caused an outrage on social media for doing so, has been dumped by Hollywood actress Kate Hudson, who had initially signed a sponsorship deal with Ms Stauffer.

You can read the full story here. 

We’ve gathered up some interesting documents on child welfare, which have been published this week.

The House of Commons Library put out two briefings on February 18, which offer information on child protection laws and unregistered accommodation for looked after children, both current topics in the news.

An overview of child protection legislation in England

The briefing summarises the key pieces of legislation in child protection, what each one does and also includes statutory guidance for the sector.

A full review, which is 13 pages long, is also added in downloadable PDF format at the bottom of the page.

Looked after children: out of area, unregulated and unregistered accommodation (England)

This briefing paper explains out of area placements for looked after children in England, and the developments around placements for looked after children in unregulated and unregistered accommodation.

The paper sets out the current position in relation to what local authorities can and can’t do when it comes to organising accommodation for children in care, and highlights the recent concerns over children being placed outside of their local area.

The document also offers information on a review of children’s residential care which took place in 2016. The two paragraphs in this section are an important read for anyone concerned about the government’s focus on profits rather than people inside the sector.

The paper also outlines the ongoing government consultation into unregulated care homes for children, which sets out proposals for change. This review is open until April 8, and wants to hear from children, young people and families with experience of care.

The proposals as set out, are:

• Banning the use of independent and semi-independent placements for children under the age of 16.
• Introducing a new requirement on local authorities to consult with local police forces when they place a child out of area in unregulated provision.
• Amending legislation to define ‘care’ in order to provide clarity on the distinction between unregulated and unregistered provision.
• Introducing new national standards for providers of unregulated provision. The consultation seeks views on how the standards should be introduced and enforced.
• Legislate to increase Ofsted’s enforcement powers “so that robust action can be taken quickly where providers are found to be acting illegally.”

As part of the government’s Care Leaver Internship Scheme, two new internships have been offered.

The internships, which are both paid, are for jobs working as an Administrative Officer and an Executive Officer within the Department for Education.

Other government bodies who have participated in the care leaver internships scheme include the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Crown Prosecution Service.

You can apply for the positions if you were eligible for a leaving care support package when you left care, and are aged between 18 and 30. No qualifications are required for these positions.

The roles can be taken up in one of forty eight locations around the country.

The government’s web page for the internships offers the following descriptions for each job:

• Administrative Officer (typical salary £17,400 per annum); you will be working in a supporting administrative role with no line management responsibilities, and typically within a team structure.

• Executive Officer (typical salary £20,000 per annum); you will be involved in problem solving, business planning and policy making within Government. They usually work within a supportive team structure, under the direction of relevant team leaders. They can also hold individual responsibility for pieces of work within a programme or project. Those that apply unsuccessfully for the Executive Officer role may be considered for the Administrative Officer role.

Applications need to be submitted online through the civil service job site and the deadline for applying for these roles is five minutes before midnight, on 26th September.

If you have any questions you can email the government at leavers.care@education.gov.uk, or WhatsApp them on +44 7502 496583.

Full details can be accessed on the government’s internship page. 

Research

A new study suggests that child protection cases where children are being returned to their parents, are breaking down in the long term. The researchers at East Anglia University’s school of social work make the claims in their latest report, which is part of a series of papers looking at reforming the care system. 

The research was produced to offer insight into how two high profile cases (re B and re B-S), have impacted child protection cases. The two cases have made it much harder for councils to push adoption orders through.

The report takes the view that the family courts and councils are increasing their use of supervision orders and Special Guardianship Orders in order to meet timescales and fend off austerity measures. The stats in the report suggest that within the time periods they examined, 25% of supervision orders were unsuccessful in the long run. Jonathan Dickens, who is head of East Anglia University’s school of social work and who co-led the study, told Community Care that whilst only a small number of orders broke down, difficulties experienced by some special guardians highlighted the need for joint support, including financial support, with adopters.

Do be careful with this research. While some of the observations are sound, the conclusions are not, including the view that courts are issuing supervision orders rather than adoption orders because they are under pressure both in terms of time and resources. There is also a clear push by the research team to increase adoption orders, which is underlined by their view that adoption is the best way forward in cases where orders break down. We know from scientific evidence and research that this is not always the case, and that more often than not, parents can, with proper support, love and care for their children very well.

East Anglia was granted the funds for this research by the ESRC, whose council is made up of individuals who, amongst other organisations, work for the Home Office, and Department of Health and Social Care.

Child Welfare Complaints

For the fist time, the latest Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman decisions show a marked drop in the number of complaints around child welfare proceedings. We don’t know if the drop is related to our post explaining that the ombudsman cannot investigate such cases. You can access the latest decisions here. 

Child Sexual Abuse In Football

The findings of the Football Association’s independent inquiry into the historical child sex abuse scandal are due to be published shortly. The investigation is led by barrister Clive Sheldon QC, whose latest report will outline the key failings that allowed abusers to prey on children in the past. Sheldon previously acted as counsel for the Health Secretary, then Jeremy Hunt, over a new junior doctors’ contract.