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AN OVERVIEW OF THE BRITISH CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM
SALLY COSSTICK, SOUTHAMPTON CITY COUNCIL, SOCIAL SERVICES
INTRODUCTION:
This overview offers the political and historical context of our current legislation and practice in
England, Wales and Northern Ireland (Scotland has separate legislation). I will summarise the main
provisions of the Children Act 1989, and then relate this to the practice of child care and child protection. Finally I will do a quick tour of current issues and trends in this area of social work.
NATIONAL AND LOCAL CONTEXT:
The UK now has a population of 59 million people, of who 15.8 million are children. The proportion of children is decreasing, from 25% in 1971 to 20% in 1991, as the average age of the population gets older.
Within this small, heavily populated country there is a wide variation in incomes and standards of
living, and of environments between rural areas, towns and cities.
It is estimated (Child Poverty Action Group 1999) that 30% of children are living in poverty in the
UK. The proportion of children living in households with less than half the average national income
has more than doubled since the end of the 70's.
Important Government measures are being taken to improve education and health services, provide
support for parents to work and to care for their children, and tackle youth crime. The first issues
tackled by the new Social Exclusion Unit are exclusions from school, homelessness and the regeneration of 'problem estates'. The Unit's responsibilities cross the boundaries of Government departments, and some suggest there should be a similar Unit for children, to achieve the prime minister's
stated aim of achieving 'joined up solutions for joined up problems'.
Southampton has a population of 209,000 of whom 41,500, 19.8 % are children. The age distribution in the city exactly mirrors the national picture. Although a reasonably prosperous southern city,
Southampton shares indicators of poverty and deprivation with many inner city areas. It also has
above average unemployment. The most deprived ward in Southampton is the most deprived in the
South East, apart from London, and five of Southampton's fifteen wards are in the top 10% most
deprived wards in England. This level of urban deprivation is recognised by the government in the
allocation of money for certain initiatives, including the regeneration of the inner city area, and the
'Sure Start' programme, which will fund provision for parents and young children on one of the
more deprived estates.
Locally as well as nationally, there are various broad multi agency strategies to reduce poverty and
improve the environment. The Children's Services Plan, required by government since 1996, is a
multi agency plan with shared objectives and priorities to address the needs of all children in the
city.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT of CHILD CARE LEGISLATION IN THE UK
POOR LAWS
From the late 16th century to the mid 20th century, a series of Poor Laws gave increasing powers
to Boards of Poor Law Guardians to provide for the destitute, including children. From the late 19th
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century this included the right to take on the powers and duties of a parent, firstly for abandoned
children, and later for the children of parents deemed 'unfit'. By the late 19th century, it became the
practice to care for children by 'boarding out' with families, and an order of 1913 made it illegal to
retain a healthy child under one year old in a workhouse for more than six weeks. The responsibilities of the Poor Law Guardians were taken over by local authorities in 1929.
CUSTODY AND THE WELFARE PRINCIPLE
The Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 introduced judicial divorce, and allowed the Court to make
decisions regarding custody and maintenance. This for the first time could override the rights of fathers over their children. The powers of Courts to award custody to mothers increased gradually. In
1886 the principle was introduced that the child's welfare was the determining factor, and in 1891
the Court was given the power for the first time to consult the wishes of the child. Finally, in 1925,
the principle of equality of rights between mothers and fathers was enshrined in law, with the welfare of the child paramount.
CHILD CARE and PROTECTION LEGISLATION
In 1946, the Curtis Report led directly to the Children Act 1948. Local authorities were given an
increased role in a professionalised service for an extended group of children. Previously the
churches and voluntary organisations had provided most services. The new Children's Departments
worked to keep children in their families, and the Children and Young Persons Act of 1963 introduced the powers and duties to 'make available such advice, assistance and guidance as may promote the welfare of children by diminishing the need to receive children into or keep them in care'.
The Children and Young Persons Act 1969 introduced more compulsory measures for local authorities to take over the parental rights of a child, and brought together the concepts of 'care and
control' so that children committing criminal acts could be made subject of care orders.
In 1971, following the Seebohm Report, the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 brought
together the different areas of social work into generic Social Services Departments.
Concern in the early 70s about the 'drift' of planning for children in voluntary care, and the need for
children to be parented in permanent families led to the Children Act 1975 and the Adoption Act
1976.
CRIMINAL LEGISLATION
The Prevention of Cruelty to, and Protection of, Children Act 1889 was the first statute of many
to impose criminal penalties to deter mistreatment of children. This legislation is now embodied in
the Children and Young Persons Act 1933. Schedule One of the Act lists all the offences against
children and is still often referred to in identifying risk.
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THE CHILDREN ACT 1989:
The Children Act 1989 was described by the then Lord Chancellor as " the most comprehensive and
far-reaching reform of child law which has come before Parliament in living memory". It is comprehensive and integrates almost all the law relating to children. The Act brings together the public
and private law provisions for the first time, but removes the link with the criminal law for young
people.
The Children Act 1989 was described as 'consensus legislation' and followed a series of influential
reports regarding Social Services intervention to protect children through the 1980s. There were
three important public inquiries following child deaths: Jasmine Beckford (1985), Kimberley Carlile (1987) and Tyra Henry (1987). These highlighted the failure of agencies to work together successfully to protect children, and the failure of Social Services to intervene, particularly when parents avoided contact. These were paralleled by the Cleveland report, where Social Services and
medical professionals were criticised for over-zealous diagnosis of sexual abuse, and too hasty intervention, which overrode the rights of parents.
Some welcomed the new Act as reducing the intervention of the state in the family, and certainly
the guiding principle is the belief that parents are responsible for looking after their children. However, it also includes stronger and clearer duties to investigate actual or suspected child abuse, and
introduced the concept of 'likely' significant harm into the threshold for care and supervision orders.
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PRINCIPLES, POWERS AND DUTIES
safeguard and promote the welfare of children in their area who are in need (including
disabled children) and so far as is consistent with that duty, to promote the upbringing
of such children by their families
parental responsibility
partnership
duty to investigate - if a child is suffering, or likely to suffer, 'significant harm'
inter-agency co-operation
'welfare principle' in Court proceedings - the welfare checklist, including the wishes and
feelings of the child
'no order' principle
delay is detrimental to the child
contact, consultation and the duty to rehabilitate looked after children
child's religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background considered in reaching a decision about the child
The Act introduced new principles, powers and duties on local authorities:
THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM:
The Children Act, with its accompanying regulations and guidance, gives us most of the requirements for provision, and practice guidance, for local authority social services children's services in
Britain. More general services, such as community development, play and leisure, are aimed at all
children alongside the major provisions of education and health, although they may be targeted on
more deprived areas in order to reach poor children. Other departments of the local authority usually provide these, so the Social Services Departments focus on services for children 'in need' and
children who require protection.
The local authority social services include:
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FAMILY SUPPORT SERVICES
These include assessments of children in need and often the provision of support services for parenting and care, including for disabled children. Voluntary 'accommodation' comes within these
services, whether for short periods of respite or a longer period, and the parent retains full parental
responsibility. In Southampton we have specialist teams of social workers who carry out assessment
and short-term work, and a specialist team for disabled children, to ensure priority for this area of
work is not superseded by child protection work. There are three family centres in the city providing
parenting support work.
DAY CARE
Local authorities approve and register childminders, playgroups, nurseries and after-school care for
children under the age of 8 years. This is an expanding area, especially with Government encouragement and financial support for these services.
CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES
These include the enquiries required by Section 47 of the Children Act, where children are suffering
or at risk of significant harm.
There is a strong emphasis on inter-agency working, following the guidance in 'Working Together
Under the Children Act 1989 - A guide to arrangements for inter-agency co-operation for the protection of children from abuse' (1991). This guidance covers inter-agency working on the management, strategic level and also in investigations of abuse in individual cases.
Allegations of child abuse, which indicate a crime has been committed, are investigated jointly by
Social Services and the Police. Children's evidence is recorded on video under strict guidelines published in the 'Memorandum of Good Practice'. There are local variations in the way this procedure
is used, but there is concern that it is Police led, with priority given to the collection of evidence,
and yet ineffective in achieving prosecutions for crimes of serious child abuse.
'Working Together' prescribes the structure and use of Child Protection Conferences and the Child
Protection Register. The categories of abuse for placing a child's name on the Child Protection Register are as follows:
THE CHILD PROTECTION REGISTER - CATEGORIES OF ABUSE
NEGLECT: the persistent or severe neglect of a child, or the failure to protect a child from
exposure to any kind of danger, including cold or starvation, or extreme failure to carry out
important aspects of care, resulting in the significant impairment of the child's health or development, including non-organic failure to thrive.
PHYSICAL INJURY: actual or likely physical injury to a child, or failure to prevent physical injury (or suffering) to a child including deliberate poisoning, suffocation and Munchausen's syndrome by proxy.
SEXUAL ABUSE: actual or likely sexual exploitation of a child or adolescent. The child
may be dependent and/or developmentally immature.
EMOTIONAL ABUSE: actual or likely severe adverse effect on the emotional and behavioural development of a child caused by persistent or severe emotional ill-treatment or rejection. All abuse involves some emotional ill-treatment. This category should be used
where it is the main or sole form of abuse.
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Working Together' also gives the criteria for de-registration, outlining the ways risk may be reduced
either by separation of the child and the abuser, or by assessment of risk and/or work with the family.
The Child Protection Register aims to be 'a record of all children in the area for whom there are unresolved child protection issues and who are currently the subject of an inter-agency protection
plan'.
'Working Together' is currently under review, and there is substantial consultation with agencies. It
will be revised and published later this year, with an emphasis on reducing the use of the child protection systems unnecessarily, in favour of 're-focussing' to a family support approach.
In Southampton, the number of children on the Child Protection Register is just below the national
average (26 per 10,000 children, compared to 27 nationally, on 31.3.98), but very low for our group
of comparable authorities (average 37 per 10,000 children). There were high numbers of children
placed on the register, and de-registered, indicating a high turnover. There are still wide variations
in how different areas use the register so we are hoping for clearer national guidance in the revised
'Working Together'.
LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN
Children are 'looked after' by the local authority either by voluntary agreement with parents ('accommodation') or under Care Orders made by the Courts.
In England (only), 53,700 children were looked after on March 31st 1998, 4% more than a year earlier. This is 47 per 10,000 child population. The number of children under care orders has risen
steeply over the past two years, while the number of children accommodated under voluntary
agreements has fallen.
Southampton has a much higher ratio than the national average, 75 per 10,000 child population
(318 children on 31st March 1998).
Nationally, in March 1998, 65% of looked after children were placed in foster care while in Southampton it was 69%. 16.5% were in residential care nationally, and 10% in Southampton. 10% were
at home with parents, under Care Orders, nationally, and in Southampton 14%. 4.5% were placed
with adoptive families nationally, 5% in Southampton.
Certainly in Southampton there has been a reduction in the number and range of residential children's units, with a clear aim that almost all younger children and the majority of all children and
young people should be placed in foster care. There is a subjective view locally that many children
subject of care proceedings have been made subject to Care Orders though living at home. This
means the Court makes the more powerful order, giving shared parental responsibility to the local
authority, although the plan is for the child to live at home.
The 'Looked After Children' materials, introduced by government in 1994, are used in most local
authorities, including Southampton. These are a comprehensive set of materials to ensure that Children Act requirements and standards are met for the information sharing, planning, and reviewing
of looked after children. The Assessment and Action records review progress and set goals and
tasks in six areas of development, including health, education, emotional and social development,
and identity including racial and cultural identity, areas we know from research tend to show poor
outcomes for children in local authority care.
The Children Act 1989 introduced increased responsibilities to provide support services for young
people who are leaving and have left care. This can include financial support.
YOUTH JUSTICE
The Youth Justice service has been subject to major changes since the Crime and Disorder Act
1998. Young offenders below the age of 18 are dealt with by multi-agency youth offending teams,
which include social workers, police and health workers. Young people who commit offences are
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subject to a number of options from the police and courts. They can be given one caution and then a
Final Warning before entering the court system. Youth Offending Teams work with young people
before and after they enter the court system.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES:
Bainham, Andrew: CHILDREN: THE MODERN LAW, 1998, Jordan Publishing Ltd
Barnardo's: WHOSE DAUGHTER NEXT? - Children abused through prostitution,
1998
Blackwood and Williams: RESISTANCE - client led self defence training with women sex workers, 1999
Clarke, John (ed): A CRISIS IN CARE? CHALLENGES TO SOCIAL WORK,
1993, Sage Publications
CHILDRIGHT : Magazine of the Children's Legal Centre - excellent for summaries
of legislation and news - http://www2.essex.ac.uk/clc/
Children's Legal Centre : THE CHILDREN ACT 1989, briefing paper
Freeman, Michael : CHILDREN, THEIR FAMILIES AND THE LAW - Working
with the Children Act, 1992, Macmillan
Hester, Pearson and Harwin : MAKING AN IMPACT - children and domestic
violence, 1998
HMSO : WORKING TOGETHER UNDER THE CHILDREN ACT, 1991
HMSO : MEMORANDUM OF GOOD PRACTICE on video recorded interviews
with child witnesses for criminal proceedings, 1992
HMSO : CHILD PROTECTION - Messages from research, 1995
HMSO : AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CHILDREN ACT, 1989
HMSO : PEOPLE LIKE US - Review of the safeguards for children living away from
home, Sir William Utting, 1997
HMSO : SUPPORTING FAMILIES (consultation leaflet)
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/
HMSO : The NEW NHS http://www.open.gov.uk/doh/newnhs.htm
Smith and Cronin : RESILIENT AND RESOURCEFUL: YOUNG PEOPLE AND
POVERTY, in Childright 153
Utting (ed) : CHILDREN'S SERVICES NOW AND IN THE FUTURE, NCB
and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 1998
Sally Cosstick - biographical note
I am a social services child care and child protection practitioner with twenty six years experience
in this field of work in Southampton. My current post is team manager of a specialist child protection enquiry team which carries out the early stages of work with children and families where a
child is abused or at risk. I have past experience with children in the public care system, as a residential and field social worker, family placement social worker, and as a manager.
As a volunteer, I have been involved for many years in Women's Aid in Southampton, providing
refuge for women and children experiencing all forms of domestic violence and abuse. This has
given me experience of working in a collective women's group and providing services within a voluntary organisation guided by feminist self help principles.
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