Adela Kay, Assistant Headteacher: Children with a Social Worker, Aspire Virtual School, has conducted in-depth research on a variety of pressing issues affecting our children and young people within our community, with a particular focus on safeguarding, mental health, and the unique challenges faced by specific groups. Below, you’ll find summaries and links to key reports that highlight national concerns around neglect, mental health, the experiences of Black missing children, and the state of kinship care and children in care. As well as resources to equip you in addressing these issues.
These reports not only shed light on current challenges but also provide crucial insights into how we can better support vulnerable young people in our schools and communities. The topics covered include:
- Neglect
- Mental Health and Suicide
- Black Missing Children
- Kinship Care
- Looked After Children
- FSM Disadvantage
Safeguarding: Neglect:
Coming off the back of the LBBD focus on Neglect last year and our local Neglect strategy I thought that some of you may find it interesting that Neglect is becoming a topic for discussion more widely. This report exams the state of play across the country with regards the barriers and challenges professionals face when identifying and then tackling neglect. It can be found here but the headline is essentially that professionals can identify neglect but tackling it is a challenge in a world of limited services. Too little, too late: The multi-agency response to identifying and tackling neglect (nspcc.org.uk) The report also calls for a National Neglect Strategy to tackle the issue and comes up with a series of recommendations.
- Neglect: statistics briefing
- CORE-INFO: Neglect or emotional abuse in children aged 5-14
- Protecting children from neglect
- Neglect has become so ‘widespread’ we have become ‘desensitised’ to the warning signs
Mental Health
The NSPCC has also written a report following Learning from Case Reviews around suicide, It can be found here: Suicide: learning from case review briefing (nspcc.org.uk)) I think it is important that we consider this as education and social care practitioners, the report highlights some things which are obvious causes of suicide but also lack of stable accommodation/consistent care, domestic violence, parental mental health problems and social isolation. In the context of our vulnerable cohort in the virtual school the list is sobering because most of our children will have experienced some of the common themes listed, and it is not always easy to identify, and remedy matters before they come to crisis point. However, we need to work closely with CAMHS and schools to ensure that the right support is given and the right time and in the right way. For the Virtual School there is also a useful section on providing stable sources of care which reinforces what we already know about the importance of stable and secure accommodation, where children feel like they belong. For all professionals working with young people there is learning here about how we can better support, and therefore avoid suicide, our young people.
Leading on from that, you may have seen report in some broadsheets over the summer around problematic smart phone use and its link to anxiety, this report was made of the back of research by Kings College London about Anxiety and depression in 16–18-year-olds and the link to PSU. PSU describes a pattern of behaviour, thoughts and feelings linked to smartphone usage which resembles and addiction. Teens with problematic smartphone use are twice as likely to have anxiety – and many are eager to cut down | King’s College London (kcl.ac.uk)
Missing Children
This report explores lived experiences of Black children and their families going missing. Executive_summary_Experiences-of-Black-missing-children-Voices-report.pdf (listenupresearch.org)
Key findings:
- Reasons for going missing: Exploitation and conflict or problems at home are common drivers of missing incidents for all children, however, our research found that these risks may be particularly pronounced for Black children. A lack of a sense of belonging or identity was seen to increase vulnerability to going missing.
- Lack of value and care: Black young people consistently reported feeling undervalued compared to their White peers. Poor media representation further exacerbates this issue, as Black missing children receive less attention and care.
- Racism: Racial biases against Black children and their families impact risk assessments and safeguarding responses. Black children are often stereotyped, adultified and criminalised, hindering their access to necessary support.
- Trust in Services: Many Black families lack trust in services, including the police. Firsthand experiences of racism and indifference contribute to this lack of confidence.
When we were completing the analysis around Neglect one of the concerns was the adultification of young people which minimised their vulnerabilities and, in some case, ignored them altogether. Sadly, this report suggests that we still have some way to go nationally regarding support particularly for black missing young people and their families.
Kinship Care Report
As many of you may be aware the Virtual School’s role has been extended again to cover in the same way as we support PLAC children Kinship cared for children. These are essentially children who are looked after either temporarily or long term by adults who are not their parents. Forgotten-report-v2.pdf (kinship.org.uk) This report highlights some of the needs of this vulnerable group and also the way in which getting support has been a challenge for these families.
Looked After Children
Still-Too-Far-report-FINAL-v1.pdf (becomecharity.org.uk) this report from the charity Become highlights once again the number of children in care being placed a long way from their homes. It calls for a national commitment and increased accountability to ensure children are placed closer to home. As the Virtual School and Social care colleagues are all too aware sometimes the specialist needs and vulnerabilities of our cohort mean that placement away is sometimes actually the safest option for them, but the report raises questions we should consider on if away is always essential.
FSM Disadvantage
I am not absolutely clear on what this report is trying to say, it seems to suggest that the introduction and full roll out of Universal Credit will change the eligibility criteria for FSM and how it is administered. It also has some interesting longitudinal data on the numbers of children across the age range in receipt of FSM. How free school meal eligibility has been changing and why we might need new measures of disadvantage – FFT Education Datalab.
For more information, contact Adela Kay at Adela.Kay@lbbd.gov.uk
