An increased use of data in children’s social care could improve outcomes and deliver much-needed savings, the County Councils Network (CCN) has said.
A new report by consultancy firm IMPOWER and the CCN found there is currently a lack of connection between children’s needs and the cost of their care.
The report suggests that tracking young people’s needs over time would help councils recognise opportunities to ‘improve support, reduce cost and manage the market differently’.
It recommends that this data-driven approach is embedded in the national children’s social care framework, which the Government is set to issue by the end of the year.
It also says the approach could be scaled up and implemented by groups of local authorities, potentially through regional care co-operatives, plans for which were set out in the Government’s strategy for children’s services reform, ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’.
CCN children’s services spokesperson Roger Gough said: ‘Councils across the country are dealing with a rise in demand and needs, and costs for individual placements have risen exponentially over the last few years, due to the broken nature of the market.
‘Therefore, any measures local authorities can take to reduce these costs and, crucially, improve outcomes for children in care are well worth considering.’
