More children in care could return home with more support, research suggests

More children in care in England could return home with better support, new research by the NSPCC and Action for Children has revealed.

In a survey of 75 local authorities across England, it was found that:

• 78% said they would like to provide more support to families to help them reunite than is currently offered.

• Of those, 69% said that funding constraints were a barrier to increasing the support that children need to reunite with their families.

• 65% said struggles with recruitment and retention of staff were preventing them providing more support to reunifying families.

The two children's charities are calling for more to be done to tackle the issue, saying family reunification often fails - leading to children returning into the care system.

Existing data shows that 35% of children who are reunited with their families return to care within 6 years.

The charities say there is little guidance, direction or focus nationally to help local authorities fix issues within the care system.

The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, commissioned by the Government, has warned that without urgent action the number of children in care in England will rise from 80,000 to 100,000 in a decade, with the costs rising from £10bn a year to £15bn.

In recent years, Coventry City Council have launched a reunification project to offer more help to families who are ready to reunite. They are one of a number of councils to have such schemes in place.

In January 2023, they began working with Emma and Kyle (which is not the real name of the child - it has been changed to protect his identity), a mother and son who were looking for support to bring Kyle out of residential care and back into the family home.

Emma and Kyle were given reunification support by a Therapeutic Practitioner, Adolescent Support Worker and Advanced Social Worker.

Reflecting on the programme, Emma said: “The team were so supportive and took everything at our pace. They helped us reflect on our relationship, mediate tricky situations, and develop skills to navigate challenging times. I was able message the team whenever I had a concern. They would tailor the level of support they gave us according to what we needed.

“Now, Kyle and I are back at home together, he has just started school and I have started a college course. With the help I received from Coventry City Council, I feel equipped to manage our relationship independently – knowing that support is always a phone call away.”

Abigail Gill, Associate Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the NSPCC, said: “It is disheartening to see councils struggling to offer the level of support that is needed to help families who are ready to reunite come back together safely.

“We urgently need to invest in an effective, joined-up system which has the tools to accurately assess what a family needs and the capacity to prioritise solutions that work in the best interest of the child.

“This in turn would encourage earlier family-based support that would help remove the pressure and costs local authorities tell us they are feeling. More importantly, it would mean that more families are able to be reunited and fewer children will remain in the care system”.

Joe Lane, Head of Policy and Research at Action for Children, said: “Going home is the most common way for children to leave care but too many reunified children end up back in care. More children could return to their families and fewer of them would come back into our over-stretched care system if local authorities had the means to make family reunification work better.

“In this election year, all political parties must commit to greater prioritisation of reunification. If we’re serious about reducing the number of children in care across the country, we need to give local authorities the help they need to improve support for reunifying families. It’s the right thing to do for children, and it’s the right thing to do for cash-strapped councils, struggling with the high costs of homing children in care.

As a nation, we should give as many children in care as possible the chance to thrive at home with their families, in a well-supported and sustainable way.”

The Department for Education says £53 million has been given to local authorities across the country to help support the care system.

Hear the latest news on Clyde 1 on FM, DAB, smart speaker or the Rayo app.