Record rise in care applications

June saw the highest number of care applications for a single month

There has been a record rise in applications to take children into care in England.

Cafcass, which represents children in the family courts in England, says the number of cases has gone up by almost a half in the past year.

The rise is being attributed in part to criticism over the Baby Peter case, making officials less willing to leave children at home in borderline cases.

Council leaders have warned the care system is under "massive strain."

Cafcass believes some social workers have lost confidence in their own professional judgments and are referring more cases because they fear making a mistake.

The three months to September saw an increase in care applications to England's courts of 688 cases, a 47% rise. The figure for June was the highest ever recorded for a single month.

'Gear up'

Anthony Douglas, Cafcass chief executive, said: "Whilst the rise in applications is good news for children who need protection, the child care system as a whole will need to gear up to be able to cope with and support these much higher volumes.

"Rises in applications to courts directly follows on from recent steep rises in child protection referrals to local authorities.

The system is under massive strain - it was never designed to deal with such a big increase in cases in such a short space of time Shireen Ritchie LGA

"This has been partly caused by some agencies referring lower level concerns in case they make a mistake by under-reacting. Agencies must regain confidence in their own professional judgments and assessments."

He added: "Financial pressures in many agencies mean that resources are being driven into funding children with the highest levels of need and protection.

"This risks a reduction in the very family support and therapeutic services a much larger group of children and families need to prevent the cycle of neglect recurring."

'Unsustainable'

Shireen Ritchie, chairman of the LGA's children and young people board, said some councils were already diverting funds into the care system from other parts of children's services and warned this could rapidly become "unsustainable".

She said: "The system which looks after children in care is under massive strain - it was never designed to deal with such a big increase in cases in such a short space of time.

"There is absolutely no question of money being a factor in deciding how a vulnerable child is cared for, but there is clearly a cost to be paid if it means a reduction in the help and support councils can offer to other families."

She said that wherever a child is identified as being in danger, councils and the courts will take them out of the family home if that is the best way of protecting them.

She added: "There have been well-publicised arguments about whether social services should step in sooner and more frequently where children are thought to be at risk.

"If it is decided that, as a nation, we must play a bigger role in how families raise their children there will have to be a debate about how to fund and manage a system which can do this properly."

Haringey Council was severely criticised following the death, after sustained abuse, of 17-month-old Baby P in August 2007.