Three weeks in November, three years on

Cafcass has published a report for child protection services which shows that local authorities are acting more swiftly to safeguard vulnerable children.

The new report is a repeat of a previous study conducted in 2009 into the rise in care applications following the death of Baby Peter Connelly. Figures within the report show a 62% increase in the number of local authority care applications received annually since 2007-8.

Anthony Douglas, Cafcass Chief Executive said:

“Following on from the Baby Peter tragedy there was an upsurge in care applications which is still being sustained three years on. For vulnerable children today this defining study gives encouraging signs that court applications to protect them are now more timely and being made at an earlier stage of a local authority’s involvement with their family. It shows that cases where children are suffering from neglect are being brought more quickly to court and that, in the large majority of cases, Cafcass Guardians believed that the local authorities’ actions were the correct ones."

The report shows that in terms of making court applications in particular, neglect cases are being acted on more quickly than was the case prior to the Baby Peter Connelly tragedy. However, despite the clear progress, Anthony Douglas makes it clear that there is much more progress to make, highlighting improvements to the family justice system as a key objective.

Click here to view the Cafcass Care Study 2012.
Click here to view the Cafcass Care Study 2012 - Executive Summary.
Click here to view the local authority care applications breakdown.

(Source: http://www.cafcass.gov.uk/news/2012/cafcass_care_study_2012.aspx)