A new Preventative Care Fund should be set up in Wales to help ease the strain on children's services, councils have said.
In a joint statement, the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) and the Association of Directors of Social Service in Wales (ADSS Cymru) warned children's services need urgent investment to meet increased demand.
The WLGA and ADSS Cymru called on new consequential funding to be ring-fenced in order to establish a new preventative fund.
Figures show that councils’ expenditure on children’s services has increased by 30% in real terms over the last decade, despite core grant funding reducing by 22% in the same time period.
Cllr Huw David, WLGA’s spokesperson for health and social care, said: 'The challenges are not unique to Wales, with record numbers of children taken into care being seen all across the UK, but it all points to the need to take a preventative approach to improving children's outcomes.
'As Welsh Government consider their plans for next year’s budget it is vital that real additional funding is provided to local government to meet the growing funding gap being seen across councils and within social care, otherwise our vital services will continue to be at considerable risk and will not be sustainable in the longer term.'
