Scots social workers failing to focus on long-term stability

Scotland’s social workers are failing to ensure the swift transfer of children in care to long-term placements, according to the Holyrood government’s chief social work adviser, writes Jackie Cosh.

Speaking at the Association of Directors of Social Work annual conference this week, Alexis Jay said inconsistency in risk assessments was partly to blame.

“Some children are drifting in and out of different short-term placements to the extent that they get to the point when long-term care is no longer an option for them,” she said.

“This affects them for life. There is no single reason but it does merit a lot of local discussion if this is happening in your area.”

She said that, with services in increasing demand, social workers needed to quickly find a long-term solution, such as fostering, kinship care or residential schools, because uncertainty was also damaging to children.

She was also worried about the large increase in the number of pre-school and primary school aged children who had been taken into care over the past year.

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Reference Manual: Achieving stability for children who are looked after or adopted