Making Every Child Matter
1 October 2005
Messages from inspections of children's social services
Making Every Child Matter describes how children's social
services respond to children in need, including those in need of
protection and those looked after (in the council's care).
The report is based on inspections of almost half of English
councils between 2003-5. It includes examples of good practice.
The report highlights what councils, with their partners, need
to do to make every child in need matter.
We are sending the report to all councils. You can download a
copy of the report and read more about its findings below.
Find out more
What councils are doing well
- Councils have made good progress to safeguard children in need
of protection.
- Councils are giving better support for looked after children to
improve their life chances.
- Looked after children and care leavers are generally positive
about their experience of council services.
- Councils have generally increased budgets for services to meet
unavoidable demand.
- Most councils see services for children as a high
priority.
Areas for development
- Improved services for looked after children and those in need
of protection often means less support for wider groups of children
and families in need.
- Criteria for access to services are often high and early
intervention work is limited.
- Staffing difficulties are common.
- Retaining a good pool of foster carers is challenging.
- Commissioning of services is underdeveloped.
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