Children’s Social Care Statistics for Northern Ireland 2017/18

Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995
The Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (the Children Order) is the principal statute governing the care, upbringing and protection of children in Northern Ireland. It affects all those who work and care for children, whether parents, paid carers or volunteers. The Children Order emphasises the unique advantages to a child being brought up within his or her own family. In practice, this means that the Children Order sees families as a major way of supporting and helping children. Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts have the power and in some circumstances the duty, under the Children Order, to help children by providing services to their families.
A child can be referred to Social Services for a variety of reasons. When a child is referred, Social Services undertake an initial assessment to determine if that child is a ‘child in need’ as defined by the Children Order. If a child is considered to be a child in need, services should be offered to assist the child’s parents/carers to meet that identified need. Should there be concerns that a child may be suffering or at risk of suffering ‘significant harm’, Social Services will conduct an investigation under Article 66 of the Children Order and respond appropriately. A Child Protection Case Conference may be convened and the child’s name included on the Child Protection Register and a Child Protection Plan drawn up to safeguard the child. If there are significant concerns that indicate authoritative intervention is required, Social Services may make an application to the Court for a Legal Order to enable them to afford an appropriate level of safeguarding to the child. This may include removing a child from its family and into the care of the HSC Trust.
Children in Northern Ireland
There are 436,403 children living in Northern Ireland. At 31 March 2018, 23,510 of these were known to Social Services as a child in need. Furthermore, 2,082 were on the Child Protection Register and 3,109 were children in care of the HSC Trusts (a looked after child).
Considerable resources go into safeguarding children. Just under £230m is spent annually on family and child care within Personal Social Services in Northern Ireland and some 2,000 Social Service staff employed are specifically graded as Child and Family Care social workers. Many other work groups would also be involved in children’s social care, such as managerial and administrative teams, multidisciplinary teams and staff in different residential settings. In addition, the Courts and educational system could also be involved in many aspects of children’s social care.