11 April 2012

English Care Applications Rise

Care application demand has risen to a "very high level" in England, according the courts advisory service.

There were 886 care applications in March 2012.

Between April 2011 and March 2012, Cafcass received 10,199 new applications.

This figure is 10.8% higher when compared to the same period last financial year.

Applications received between May 2011 to February 2012 this year have been the highest ever recorded by Cafcass for these individual months.

January 2012 saw the highest ever number of care applications recorded in an individual month, with 912 applications.

Chief executive of Cafcass, Anthony Douglas, said: "These consistently high figures for the year have really tested the resilience of our staff and our systems, but we have continued to be a strong organisation that serves the best interests of children.

"While Cafcass gathers this information and is of course impacted by the scale of this increase, all agencies need to realise we have to change the way we work collectively if the most vulnerable children in the country are to continue to receive strong public services in these tough times.

"Having said that, this rise shows that all agencies are working more quickly to ensure that children are removed from deeply damaging households where many have been for some time and are showing a lower tolerance for poor parenting."

(GK)