Independent Review of Social Care publish summary

The Case for Change report was published back in July and interested parties were asked to contribute their feedback on the interpretation of the evidence. The focus of the review was on the support that can be offered to families to enable children to be provided with safety, stability, and love and how care can provide those same foundations if needed.

The Case for Change highlighted the need for a new approach to children’s social care in England and the summary paper detailing the feedback received makes for interesting reading. A nod to the SEND review was also given in the feedback with acknowledgement that there are specific challenges in providing support to children with SEND within the social care system.

The next stage for the panel is to consider the feedback, begin to understand the major drivers to the problems, consider the complex dilemmas inherent in the system and start to move towards a set of recommendations. The group will continue to engage with interested parties to support the team in reaching those recommendations.

As Josh McAlister, the chair of the review, states in his blog ‘Thinking out loud, three dilemmas’: 
“finding a balance or resolving the tension in these dilemmas is, I believe, the key to unlocking some of the big problems we have faced for decades in children’s social care.”