Care applications soar after Baby P
Author: The Times |
More applications to take children into care are being issued than at any time since the present system of child protection was established.
The sharp increase comes after the reporting late last year of the death of Baby P, when the Government instructed all local authorities to look again at cases of children at risk and subject to a child protection plan, to see whether they really were safe from harm.
New figures seen by The Times show that 693 applications to take children into care were issued in December, 66 per cent higher than in December 2007 and 89 per cent higher than the all-time low in June 2008, when 367 requests were made.
The figures suggest that thresholds for taking children into care have been too high in recent years as local authorities responded to government ambitions to reduce the number of children living with foster carers or in residential homes.