RISING amounts of children who are deemed to be at risk of entering the care system will be targeted thanks to an ambitious 18-month initiative which will protect them from encountering domestic abuse and substance misuse.
Ruling cabinet members are set to sign off on the £1.16m ‘edge-of-care’ scheme on Wednesday following increasing demand for children’s care placements.
Alongside offering robust prevention against some young people entering care, the outlined proposals will also reduce the costs to the council.
Like many local authorities across England, the demand for children’s care placements is increasing and leading to unsustainable financial pressures, bosses say.
Staff will work with families to provide flexible support to improve outcomes for young people when going into care is not in their best interests.
The investment into the proposed new service will lower the number of children, aged 12 to 16, who enter care and implement preventative measures to reduce family breakdowns.
Coun Trevor Cave, cabinet spokesperson for children’s services, said: “Whenever we can we want to support families to stay together to make positive long-term changes and provide the stability that young people need to grow and thrive.
“The proposed development of this service provides us with a brilliant opportunity to meet the best interests of each child’s needs and more positive outcomes for young people across our communities.
“It also allows us to use our financial resources more strategically so that we can continue to support children across Barnsley to aspire and achieve.”
About 1,700 youngsters were ‘open to the service’ earlier this year although the amount of children in care - about 400 - has remained the same in recent months with the remainder being monitored by social workers.
The amount of ‘looked-after’ children in Barnsley care settings stood at 403 at the end of last summer, with the bill running into millions.
Of the 403, 82 youngsters were placed in external, non-council-run care homes, which resulted in costs dramatically climbing.
However, children leaving the council’s care system continued to cost money, with £680,000 spent on personal advisors whose role is to keep in touch and provide support thereafter.
A council report added: “Given the increasing reliance on expensive external residential placements, it is sensible to seek out a solution to try and stem the flow of new children and young people entering care.
“The edge-of-care service will provide intensive support to families with complex issues, such as domestic abuse and substance misuse, aiming to prevent children from entering care.
“We are going to create a team to deliver a series of evidence-based interventions which have demonstrated impact elsewhere.
“The effectiveness of the service will be measured through various indicators, including reductions in the number of children entering care and improved family outcomes.
“The service aims to both reduce the number of children entering care as well
as improving family stability - this will generate cost savings for the council.
“As a result, we will see a reduction in the number of residential placements commissioned, a reduction in the number of children in unregistered placements and the age of children in care will be lower.
“If the council took the option of doing nothing, in our assessment, this would result in a minimum expenditure of £5m due to the continuing placement costs.”
