White kids in deprived areas '˜up to 75 times more likely' to be in care

CHILDREN in Britain's most deprived neighbourhoods are ten times more likely to be in care, a survey reveals today.
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In a report which highlights a huge “postcode diversity”, researchers found that the likelihood of families becoming involved in the child protection system increased “significantly” with each step down the social ladder.

They also found that in England’s most deprived neighbourhoods, rates for white children being “looked after in care” were five times higher than for Asian children and 75 per cent higher than for black children.

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Sheffield and Huddersfield universities contributed to the study, which investigated data on more than 35,000 children.

The figures reveal that around one child in 60 is in care in England’s most deprived neighbourhoods, compared with one in 660 in the least deprived area.

Researchers said poverty was often “taken for granted”.

They said many staff across the UK felt “overwhelmed” by the complex level of need they encountered in families, and did not feel that they had the power to change the inequalities that they saw.

Professor Paul Bywaters, of Coventry University, said: “This is not about pointing the finger at local authorities or apportioning blame to anyone for a situation that is in critical need of attention. What we’re doing is holding up a mirror to the child welfare sector, and to the UK’s governments, and saying ‘This is how it is – now what shall we do about it?’.”

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The study found that children living in equivalent neighbourhoods in different towns had “starkly different” chances of being in care, with local authorities that had low levels of deprivation 50 per cent more likely to intervene.

Researchers said the “likely explanation” was that authorities with higher deprivation levels had relatively fewer resources to allocate to children’s services.

Professor Bywaters said: “We’ve known for years that child abuse and neglect is linked to poverty, but there’s been a fundamental gap in our understanding of how a child’s family circumstances, and neighbourhood deprivation or locality impacts their chances of the state intervening to improve their life chances.

“This is partly because, extraordinarily, no data is systematically collected and published about the socio-economic background of the families whose children are involved with the child welfare system. Our study puts in place some strong foundations to build on and change that.”

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Professor Kate Morris, of Sheffield University, added: “We have been able to spend time in the field with social workers examining how their understanding of poverty and deprivation connects with decisions about the care and protection of children.

“Our data shows that whilst social workers can describe the impact of poverty on families, case work and service design rarely reflect this. But front line practitioners need wider system change if inequalities in intervention are to be tackled. This fieldwork has provided unique insights into this complex area.”