Ashley John-Baptiste grew up in care believing he was an only child. Then, out of the blue, he received a message from a brother he never knew he had. He set out to explore what being split from siblings means to those who have been in the care system.

Published by the Commission on Young Lives at the end of last year, the report finds the current care system is actually handing over some children to criminals by moving them away from their families and placing them in accommodation that puts them at risk of harm.

This report highlights the changing characteristics of children in and on the ‘edge of care’, including unaccompanied minors, increasing numbers of young people with unmet complex needs and BAME young people.

In this summary report, the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) presents the findings of its 2021 annual survey providing an insight into the state
of the profession, the views of social workers and student social workers on key topics and the ongoing impact of working during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The survey was launched in December 2021 as a place for social workers to reflect on their profession and their experiences in the preceding twelve months.

This article explores responses of 41 UK social workers to ethical challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, utilising UK data from an international qualitative survey and follow-up interviews in 2020. Challenges ranged from weighing individual rights/ needs against public health risks, to deciding whether to follow government/agency rules and guidance.

The analysis of the Step Up to Social Work and Frontline programmes found participants of both, while highly trained and valued by employers, often found the move to a full caseload a “major step up”.

But it said that “dissonance” between an idealised conception of social work and experience of local authority practice – leading to “disappointment” – was much more pronounced among graduates of the latter programme.

On this day, 30 years ago, the UK Government made a pledge to the United Nations that it would honour the Convention on the Rights of the Child, an international human rights treaty containing comprehensive state obligations towards children.

‘Stronger and stricter’ intervention on child safeguarding is needed in light of the recent murders of two children in England by their own families, a county councillor has urged.

The use of the settings, which provide housing with limited or no support for children in care has been banned for under-16s. Campaigners had called for this ban to be extended for all under-18s.

But this week the government said the settings for 16- and 17-year-olds will be allowed to continue, and will be overseen by Ofsted from 2023 under a new set of mandatory national standards.

In a landmark ruling, the European Court of Justice on Tuesday (14 December) said same-sex parents and their children should be recognised as a family in all EU member states.