Education Secretary Nicky Morgan recently announced that hundreds of millions are to be invested in a new programme to revolutionise support for the most vulnerable children and families across the country. The announcement follows David Cameron’s recent speech on transforming life chances for the most vulnerable, in which he described the government’s child social care reforms as the “landmark reforms of the next five years”.
The Children’s Social Care Innovation programme seeks to develop, test and share effective ways of supporting children who need help from children’s social care services. The new programme marks a radical step-change to the way in which vulnerable families are supported and is backed by funding totalling £200 million. The government remains open to innovative and creative ideas to improve life chances for young people, and has urged councils and charities to come forward and share their thoughts and concepts for the best ways to implement schemes.
Here’s what Nicky Morgan had to say when announcing the government’s proposal:
“Every single child deserves the chance to fulfil their potential regardless of their background. Yet it remains a stark fact that we don’t yet have excellent children’s social services everywhere. Where there is failure, we can no longer sit by and watch. We know children flourish when they are supported by leaders who have been given the freedom to translate their expertise, passion and drive into providing life-changing support. And that’s why we’re inviting charities and councils to come forward with their most creative ideas to transform the lives of those most in need, because no ambition can be too great when it comes to transforming children’s life chances.”
The new investment follows the first round of the innovation programme - announced in summer 2014 - which has funded over 50 inspiring and imaginative programmes across the country, backed by £100 million.
Schemes funded to date include:
- £4.3 million for Pause - an innovative programme helping women to break the cycle of repeat pregnancies resulting in high numbers of children being taken into care.
£1 million for Barnardo’s and the Local Government Association to back a special outreach scheme for girls and young women at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM).
£4 million for the London triborough to help them redesign how they deliver front-line children’s social care - freeing up social workers to spend more time with vulnerable children and families.