Coventry’s Children’s Services is helping to lead national work on helping more children return home from care.
The Council’s Reunification project is cited in a new research by the NSPCC and Action for Children, who are calling for more to be done to help young people.
Matt Clayton, the Council’s Strategic Lead – Looked After Children (Practice), was invited to write the foreword to this national report and will be on a panel for its launch issue at Parliament this week, along with one of the mums in the city who have been supported through the scheme.
Read the report.
The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, commissioned by the Government, has warned that without urgent action the number of children in care in England will rise from 80,000 to 100,000 in a decade, with the costs rising from £10bn a year to £15bn.
Children returning to their families is the leading exit route from care, but family reunification often fails, with children returning to the care system. Existing data shows that 35% of children who are reunited with their families return to care within six years.
The survey showed that many local authorities in England who responded lack strategies to help children leave care and return home, as there is little national direction, guidance or focus. Over three quarters said they would like to offer more support, but funding and staffing issues were preventing that work.
The NSPCC and Action for Children believe that local authorities need greater investment and guidance from the Government who, ‘while planning improvements to the children’s social care system, have not so far given reunification enough attention’.
In Coventry, the Reunification Project went live in the summer of 2021 and has so far seen over 20 children return home from long-term care.
It puts children and families at the heart of practice using a creative 'high support, high challenge' model of work to return children home, where it is safe to do so.
The Reunification Team has been shortlisted for two national awards and its work has been showcased to other local authorities who are considering bringing in a similar way of working to help young people in care to return home.
Cllr Patricia Seaman, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “This is such an important issue for authorities across the country and we are very proud to be able to help lead the way and show how our Reunification Project has made such a difference.
“The project does, of course, save money on care placements, but more importantly it returns children and young people to where they should be, with their families and with the right care and support available.
“Our Reunification Project really is making a difference and we fully support this call on the Government to prioritise reunification and help all local authorities deliver sufficient, high-quality support.”
In January 2023, the Coventry Reunification project Team began working with Emma and Kyle*, a mother and son who were looking for support to bring Kyle* out of residential care and back into the family home.
Emma and Kyle* were given reunification support by a Therapeutic Practitioner, Adolescent Support Worker and Advanced Social Worker. Reflecting on the programme, Emma said: “The team was so supportive and took everything at our pace. They helped us reflect on our relationship, mediate tricky situations, and develop skills to navigate challenging times. I was able message the team whenever I had a concern. They would tailor the level of support they gave us according to what we needed.
“Now, Kyle* and I are back at home together, he has just started school and I have started a college course. With the help I received from Coventry City Council, I feel equipped to manage our relationship independently – knowing that support is always a phone call away.”
Abigail Gill, Associate Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the NSPCC, said: “We urgently need to invest in an effective, joined-up system that has the tools to accurately assess what a family needs and the capacity to prioritise solutions that work in the best interest of the child.”
Joe Lane, Head of Policy and Research at Action for Children, said: “Going home is the most common way for children to leave care but too many reunified children end up back in care. More children could return to their families and fewer of them would come back into our over-stretched care system if local authorities had the means to make family reunification work better.
“As a nation, we should give as many children in care as possible the chance to thrive at home with their families, in a well-supported and sustainable way.”