EVEN WITH the scale of economic problems facing families across the State, it is shocking to learn that almost 800 children ended up homeless and in need of emergency accommodation last year. Up to a quarter were under the age of 12. Research consistently shows that many of these children are from chaotic or violent homes or where parents are simply unable to cope. But what is even more disturbing is that many of them are likely to have ended up homeless due to the failures of a care system that, on the face of it, is designed to protect them.
Early intervention in the lives of children and their families is crucial. It can help prevent relatively small problems escalating into crises, which have devastating effects for both young people and their parents. The crushing reality is that social services are operating against a backdrop of scarce resources, staff shortages and heavy caseloads. As a result, the system continues to be dominated by crisis management rather than seeking to support families or intervene with young people earlier in their lives. Each year, social workers are simply unable to deal with thousands of child protection and welfare concerns.
We know family support services work. Research shows that children in families which receive this kind of support are significantly less likely to end up in the care system. It can often be something as simple as parenting skills for a mother or father finding it difficult to cope. Many good services are in communities, but they are too isolated and under-funded. In addition, their very existence is now being threatened by a new round of spending cuts.
Given the increasing pressures on families as a result of job losses and looming welfare cuts, the most vulnerable will be under even greater strain over the coming years. The consequences of cutting back further on these preventative services are obvious: they will result in even more children in crisis ending up homeless and in need of emergency accommodation.
Family support is not a new concept. The Government’s own strategy on children’s services, published several years ago, pledged to promote and protect the well-being of children and their families in their own homes and communities. It is difficult to reconcile this noble approach with the reality on the ground. Unless these services are prioritised, then children in crisis will continue to come to the attention of social services when it is too late.