What factors are contributing to increasing numbers of ‘Care Orders at home’ in northwest England?

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (journal)peer-review

Abstract

There is increasing understanding of the challenges associated with rising numbers of children entering England’s public care system. Yet, commentators continue to overlook cases where children are ostensibly placed ‘in care’ of the local authority, but then simultaneously remain living at home with their parent(s) – a practice referred to as a ‘Care Order at home’. The purpose of this study was to look for evidence of increasing numbers of ‘Care Orders at home’ within northwest England, and to explore with frontline social workers what they considered to be contributing to this phenomenon. The study adopted an iterative mixed method design comprising of focus groups, online questionnaire, and individual interviews, supplemented by 57 ‘Freedom of Information’ requests. Findings highlighted a substantial increase in ‘Care Orders at home’ in northwest England since 2011 and identified the longstanding national government policy of ‘austerity’ and a ‘malfunctioning’ placement market as key factors contributing to this. Implications are of the importance of reinvestment in preventative services so as to reduce the demand on England’s child protection system, and reappraisal, and reform of the children’s social care placement market, so that the placement of children can be consistently based on the needs of the individual child.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-11
Number of pages30
JournalChild and Family Social Work
Early online date2 Feb 2025
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Feb 2025

Keywords

  • Care Order
  • Care Order at home
  • child protection
  • public care
  • social work

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'What factors are contributing to increasing numbers of ‘Care Orders at home’ in northwest England?'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this