Government sets out strategy to reform children’s social care

The Government has set out its vision for reform of children's social care. The strategy – Stable Homes Built on Love – is based on recommendations from three independent reviews: 

The document says: “Every child deserves to grow up in a safe stable and loving home. Last year 3 independent reviews looked at the changes that are needed to achieve this. Between them they looked at the full breadth of children’s social care and heard from thousands of people with lived experience of these services or who work in them. We agree with their problem analysis and vision for change. This vision is underpinned by the fundamental principle of the Children Act 1989 that children’s welfare is paramount. The best way of promoting children’s welfare is very often by supporting children’s families and the loving relationships around them. To achieve this vision we need to rebalance children’s social care away from costly crisis intervention to more meaningful and effective help for families so that it achieves the outcomes children deserve. Achieving this will require a major reset that puts love and stable relationships at the heart...