There has been an increase in enquiries about child protection this year — but the number progressed to a referral has dropped.
This year, the number of people contacting social services has risen by 21 per cent, however, the number progressed further has gone down by 1.6 per cent.
High volume of referrals
During a peer inspection of the Island’s services, it was found there was a high volume of section 17 and section 47 referrals — these are for when a child needs more support beyond the services currently available or if they are at risk of significant harm.
Per 10,000 referrals, 1,037 were found to be section 17 or 47, compared to 527 in the South East and 554 in England on average.
More people are aware of the issues
However, this high volume was found to be in line with national standards and suggests, rather than more children being at risk of harm than before, more people are aware of the issues surrounding child protection and are making contact to refer children.
A report, seen by the Isle of Wight Council’s health and well-being board today (Thursday), said:
“The higher rate of both contacts and referrals is reflective of the significant awareness raising and workforce development across all partner agencies as a result of the improvement journey within children’s services.”
During 2017, the largest amount of referrals came from schools (27 per cent), police made 25 per cent of referrals and 13 per cent came from health.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which OnTheWight is taking part in. Some additions by OnTheWight. Ed
