Fri.Jan 26, 2024

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Backers of a bill that tries to legitimize hidden foster care in Virginia say it creates guardrails. On the contrary; it sends the rights of children and families careening off a cliff.

NCCPR Child Welfare Blog

A judge in neighboring North Carolina says the same approach is unconstitutional, one county alone has paid more than $53 million to settle lawsuits and there even have been criminal charges. There are two very important things to know about the process by which a child welfare agency removes a child from a parent and places that child with some other kinship caregiver.

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Children’s social work caseloads growing increasingly complex, research finds

Community Care

Children’s social workers’ caseloads have grown increasingly complex over the past decade, alongside a sharp rise in concerns relating to child mental health, an analysis of official data has found. From 2014-21, the steepest rise in demand concerned child mental health as a single factor, with the number of such cases annually more than doubling from 2014 to 2021.

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Mental Health Act detention numbers fall for second year but significant racial inequalities persist

Community Care

The number of detentions under the Mental Health Act 1983 in England has fallen for a second consecutive year, but significant racial disparities persist, official figures have shown. MHA detention numbers fell by 7.7% on a like-for-like basis from 2021-22 to 2022-23, following a 5.7% drop the year before, showed data released yesterday by NHS England (formerly NHS Digital).