Read a summary of the Government's response to the recommendations of the Independent Review of Children's Social Care in England, along with their plan for children's social care reform.
Following the publication of the final report Independent Review of Children’s Social Care in England in May 2022, the Department of Education (DfE) has published their response to the recommendations alongside their strategy for reforming children's social care: Stable Homes, Built on Love.
The programme of reform is backed by £200 million over the next two years, and will result in changes across the entire children’s social care sector including early help, child protection, workforce training and the care system.
Summary of the reforms
Our learning partner for our Young People Leaving Care funding, has written a brief summary of the changes that have been proposed, which will directly affect the care experienced young people supported by England-based participants on Esmée's Leaving Care Programme.
Share your views on the Government's plans
The DfE had launched three public consultations in relation to their strategy:
- Children's social care strategy: Stable Homes, Built on Love
- Child and Family Social Worker Workforce
- Children's Social Care National Framework and Dashboard
The deadline for responding to all three consultations is 11 May 2023.
Responses from the sector
Below, find links to the initial responses about the plans from organisations we support:
- Article 39: they fight for the rights of children living in state and privately-run institutions in England.
- Become: the national charity for children in care and young care leavers.
- Drive Forward Foundation: they work to enable care-experienced young people to achieve their full potential through sustainable and fulfilling employment.
- Family Rights Group: they promote policies and practices that keep children safe within their family and strengthen the family and community networks of those children who cannot live at home.
- Just for Kids Law: they work with and for young people to ensure their legal rights are respected and promoted, and their voices heard and valued.
- Kinship: the leading kinship care charity in England and Wales.
- National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum: hosted by Catch22, the NLCBF is a network of 129 local authorities promoting the development of quality leaving care services to enrich outcomes for our nation’s care leavers.
- Pause: they work with women who have experienced, or are at risk of, repeat removals of children from their care.
We will continue to update this page with links to responses from organisations we support.
