Britain’s Care Homes Crisis | BASW England Response
The findings reveal that the care system continues to fall short of what is safe or acceptable. BASW England has provided the following full response:
Mandatory reporting
The Independent Inquiry into Childhood Sexual Abuse heard from thousands of victim-survivors, who courageously shared their experiences as well as recommendations for reform. One of the key recommendations put forward was mandatory reporting; whilst this would create a culture of openness and action within services, it also poses the risk of overflooding the system with Section 47 assessments if professionals feel obliged to report out of fear of being reprimanded rather than genuine concern that a child is being abused. This would detract from cases which require urgent action in an already overstretched system - such outcomes have been seen in other countries where mandatary reporting has been enforced. It is imperative that professionals act swiftly and decisively where child sexual abuse is suspected, however this can be achieved by improved training, better allegiances with multi-agency services and better investment in early help and global services, rather than putting the onus onto individual practitioners.
Children placed far from home
The care system continues to fall short of what is safe or acceptable. At times of crisis, children need stability, belonging and routine, but the national shortage is depriving them of all of this by subjecting children to unnecessary moves – often hundreds of miles away – which make them vulnerable to chronic abuse and exploitation. Whilst private companies continue to profit from, and dictate the market, local authorities are forced to operate within systems that fail to align with social work ethics and values. The recent review into children’s social care could exacerbate this further; one of the key recommendations to address this issue was the establishment of Regional Care Cooperatives. However, this will further deprive local authorities of control and autonomy as strategic oversight moves centrally. At a time of desperate need, yet another major restructure is the last thing we need. Instead, we call for better investment in local services and provision, a meaningful drive to recruit foster carers in areas of greatest need, and ways of capping costs in private settings so that local authorities are not priced out.