Poor parental mental health has replaced domestic violence as the most commonly reported factor in social workers’ assessments of whether a child is at risk of serious harm or neglect, according to new research.
The rising incidence of mental illness – in both parents and children – has been an increasingly important driver for child protection interventions in England, according to the latest comprehensive study into the pressures on children’s social care systems.
Housing insecurity and homelessness, rising poverty, gang violence and the “significantly underestimated” lasting impact of the pandemic were also key factors in child protection work, the research found.
Andy Smith, the chairman of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), which published the research, said cuts to public services and the “strong impact of poverty” were leading to poorer outcomes for children, especially in poorer areas.
“The essential foundations children need to thrive are now lacking for a large proportion of children, resulting in them coming to our doors in need of help and protection,” he said. “This is not good for children, families or communities.”
The rising costs of child protection, and large numbers of looked after children in careis behind the financial problems facing many local authorities, and is now the biggest area where Britain’s top councils are overspending.
The latest Safeguarding Pressures research, published biannually by the ADCS for the past seventeen years, has identified an 83% increase in child protection plans and a 28% increase in children in care since 2007.
The number of safety assessments in which parental mental illness was the main concern had increased by 10% in the past two years, the report found. Poverty and lack of access to NHS mental health care had led some parents to use “maladaptive and dangerous strategies” to meet their needs, a council respondent said.
These include alcohol abuse and the consumption of class A drugs such as cocaine and opiates, the use of which had risen during the pandemic and showed little sign of returning to pre-Covid levels, according to the research.
“Survey researchers… described an increasing number of infants at risk of serious harm, or who have experienced serious harm – particularly neglect and physical harm – related to parental substance abuse and mental health needs,” the report said.
More than three-quarters of respondents reported increasing demand for protection related to children’s mental health and emotional wellbeing needs. In many cases, referrals to social services followed failure to access NHS child and adolescent mental health services.
An unnamed local authority in the north of England reported a 40% increase in the number of young people presenting to hospital emergency departments after attempting suicide between 2021 and 2024. They were mainly girls aged 10 to 15, half of whom had previously experienced sexual violence. for their suicide attempt.
Record numbers of homeless families in precarious temporary housing were also putting major pressure on child protection services, the research found. In 2024, more than 150,000 children in England were in temporary accommodation, many in poor quality private rented accommodation in areas with high levels of poverty and crime.
Local authorities in the north of England reported an influx of placements of homeless families outside the region in areas with low housing costs, with the vast majority coming from London. In some cases, receiving authorities were not informed of pre-existing concerns about the protection of incoming families.
Criminal exploitation of children, knife crime and other ‘out-of-home harm’ affecting young people have increased in the past two years. An anonymous authority from the East Midlands reported that there were “still the same number of young people carrying knives, but there seems to be a greater willingness to use them.”
Rising child and family poverty – increasingly in families where one or more parents were working – provided a constant backdrop to rising demand for child protection, the report found. Analysis by a Yorkshire council found that the number of referrals secured in the poorest areas was five times higher than in the most affluent.
The ADCS research was based on data from 124 top English councils (80%), a survey and interviews with 34 directors of children’s services in local authorities.
Smith said he was encouraged to see the government promising to invest in children’s services. He added: “The evidence presented here shows that the profound impact of poverty, the housing crisis and failing health care on children’s lives and their childhoods is undeniable.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are taking further action across government through our Plan for Change to ensure children in our country have the best life chances, including by developing an ambitious strategy to increase family income and reduce essential costs. and address the challenges felt by people in poverty.
“In addition, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult care and tackle the housing crisis, delivering the biggest boost in social and affordable housing in a generation.”