Children in Shropshire stuck in care due to Covid court delays

The number of looked after children in the county has spiked in the months since the national lockdown was imposed in March, in line with national and regional trends that are predicting a further surge later in the year.

Shropshire Council’s social workers are currently handling 98 court cases, in a system set up to accommodate around 70 sets of proceedings at any one time.

The courts intend to clear the backlog by the end of 2020 – but children could face even longer delays if Shropshire is hit by a local lockdown.

The number of children in the care of the authority had risen from a steady figure of around 399 at the start of lockdown to 439 by the end of August, according to a report by Sonya Miller, assistant director for children’s social care and safeguarding.

There were 69 children who became looked after between April 1 and August 31, compared to 42 children in the same period in 2019. Meanwhile just 29 children ceased to be looked after, compared to 47 in the same period last year.

Speaking at a meeting of the council’s people overview committee on Wednesday, Ms Miller said: “Delays in progressing care plans due to the impact of Covid, especially with partner agencies across the system not being able to participate fully, mean that children are not exiting the system.

“So as well as increased numbers of children becoming looked after – regionally and nationally – we have got fewer of those children who are looked after exiting the system, and that does impact on our demand.

“Nationally there was an increase projected of 10 per cent for all local authorities and we have had our 10 per cent at the moment in Shropshire.”

Ms Miller said the increase in workload meant social workers were “currently at the top of what is comfortable and verging on safe”.

She added: “They are working extremely hard to continue to support families to move them forward to make progress, but there are a number of sticking points in the system.

“Initially one of the sticking points and the most challenging was the fact that it took the court system some time to be able to adjust to working virtually.

“That had a significant impact on us progressing court care plans for children who are the most complex and the most at risk, and the most affected by that work taking place.”

Ms Miller said while there was a decline in the number of new referrals at the start of lockdown due to school closures, police referrals had increased – illustrating the high level of harm involved in new cases.

She added that work was also being done to prepare for a predicted spike in cases in November.

The committee also heard there was a need for more social workers and foster carers in the county but that recruitment was ongoing.

Ms Miller said one long-serving prolific foster carer had passed away just before the pandemic hit, while several others had retired. But she added that “five or six” prospective new foster carers were currently undergoing assessments and were expected to be signed off within the next few months.

The committee praised the children’s services team, care home staff and social workers for their efforts during the pandemic.

Councillor Peggy Mullock, chair of the committee, said: “How staff have coped with all this is just amazing, and how our foster carers have stepped up to the mark as well. They have taken in extra children and they have done a fantastic job, so a big ‘thank you’ from all of us for all the work that they have had to do.”