Foster places in short supply and council budgets buckling as social service referrals increase by up to 40% in some areas
A looming crisis of children suffering abuse, neglect and poverty has been exposed, with growing numbers of young people taken into care in some of England’s most deprived communities during the pandemic.
A Guardian investigation into the state of children’s services in the last 18 months has revealed a sharp rise in social services referrals during lockdown, plus spiralling costs for mental health support and a bulging backlog in the family courts, with some councils buckling under the weight of the extra work brought by coronavirus.
Some local authorities are expected to overspend by up to £12m on children’s services this year, and leaders say they are “down to brass tacks” as they struggle to deal with the increase in demand.
Read the full article in the Guardian here.
Mobile phones to be banned in schools in England under government plans
The government will seek to make phone bans in schools statutory by introducing an amendment in the House of Lords to the Children’s Wellbeing and
100 staff to transfer as another children’s charity joins Coram network
Family Lives, registered as a charity in 1999 under the name Parentline Plus, joined the Coram Group today, with its 150 volunteers also transferring to
Pupils in England are losing their thinking skills because of AI, survey suggests
Two-thirds of secondary school teachers report a decline in core abilities such as writing and problem-solving Read the full article in the Guardian here.