Steve Crocker: Children’s care reform must not be kicked into long grass

There is appetite for meaningful reform at a national level, writes the president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services.

Five years ago, ADCS published A Country That Works For All Children, which sets out what our collective ambitions for children and young people should be and what steps can be taken to achieve them. It outlines a number of issues affecting children and families, and while these are in the context of a pre-pandemic world, much remains pertinent today.

Steve Crocker, ADCS president, 2022-23; director of children's services, Hampshire CC

As I outlined in my speech at the National Children and Adult Services Conference, a country that works for all children means children and families are not living in poverty and going hungry. Their home and environment are affordable, warm and safe. Families have the economic means to succeed and public services are properly funded to help them thrive.

In a country that works for all children the education system prepares them not only for exam success and the skills of the future, but also adulthood. When children cannot live with their birth parents they are cared for and supported by well-trained carers and helped by a supported and well-trained workforce. Children’s contribution to the community and wider society is recognised and valued. These are ambitions we can all get behind, but where are we now?

Myriad of challenges

The paper’s stark infographic painted a picture of rising child poverty and an increase in children requiring support from children’s services, all while funding for local authorities has fallen in real terms. Fast forward to 2022 and these challenges have been exacerbated, in part due to a cost of living crisis but also a lack of a long-term plan for children accompanied by meaningful government investment.

The Send and alternative provision green paper has a welcome focus on inclusivity to rebalance the system towards a better mainstream offer for children with special needs

There are myriad other challenges such as school funding, pressures on special educational needs and disabilities provision, the erosion of early help services and a tidal wave of need for mental health support for children. Clearly, we are a long way off achieving our goal of a country that works for all children, but amongst all of the difficulties we face, there is appetite for meaningful reform at a national level and this is where I believe there can be optimism.

In children’s social care, the independent review of children's social care talks about significant investment and quite rightly looks to the sector to help reform the system. The Send and alternative provision green paper has a welcome focus on inclusivity to rebalance the system towards a better mainstream offer for children with special needs. The government is due to respond to these reviews imminently and we hope children are at the heart of the responses.

We cannot afford for this work to get kicked into the long grass. It must enable us to make the progressive changes we need if we are serious about a country that works for all children.

Steve Crocker, ADCS president, 2022-23; director of children's services, Hampshire CC