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Articles by Stuart Gallimore
Let's choose hope and kindness
Stuart Gallimore Monday, January 6, 2020 I have been a social worker for 35 years and it is in our nature to be optimistic, although we sometimes do a good job of hiding it.
Getting to grips with youth violence
By Stuart Gallimore | 15 October 2019 Too many young lives are being lost as a result of growing violence in our communities. In July, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) published a policy discussion paper on serious youth violence and knife crime in order to open a discussion about what an integrated, whole-system response to the risks and harms facing a small, number of children, young people and young adults should look like.
DfE names councils to receive family support funds
By Neil Puffett | 09 August 2019 A total of 39 councils that will share £15.5m as part of the expansion of successful family support initiatives have been named by the Department for Education. Councils will spend a new wave of funding on improving family stability. Picture: Altanaka/Adobe Stock As part of the DfE's Supporting Families; Investing in Practice programme, family drug and alcohol courts (FDACs) and family group conferencing services will be launched in more areas.
Youth custody resettlement work found 'inadequate'
By Joe Lepper | 08 August 2019 Young offenders are being released from custody without suitable housing and support, according to a damning report by inspectors. Insufficient resettlement work is being done for young offenders when they leave custody, according to inspectors.
Former government whip is new youth justice minister
By Joe Lepper | 08 August 2019 Youth justice policy is being led by former government whip Wendy Morton, following Boris Johnson's reshuffle. Youth justice minister Wendy Morton voted against lowering the voting age to 16. Picture: Parliament.UK Morton takes over from Edward Argar, who had led on youth justice policy and remains as a junior minister in the Ministry of Justice.
Support teachers to tackle bullying of SEND pupils, urges report
By Joanne Parkes | 08 August 2019 Researchers are calling for guidelines for tackling disability-related bullying to be boosted by the Department for Education, after a study found frustration with the way the problem is tackled within schools. Wide-ranging recommendations are made for tackling disability-related school bullying in a report by Drill.
Support mainstream SEN inclusion, urges ADCS
By Joanne Parkes | 07 August 2019 The Department for Education should give "greater focus to the benefits of an inclusive mainstream education" for pupils with special educational needs (SEN), the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) is urging. There is a "worrying trend" of pupils with SEN being moved out of the mainstream, according to the ADCS.
Co-designed youth initiatives tackle loneliness
By David Harris | 07 August 2019 Youth initiatives are using co-design to maximise engagement in projects and tackle loneliness, research has found. "Co-design changed how young people thought about and understood loneliness," says consultant Michelle Man. Image: NPC Social think-tank NPC (New Philanthropy Capital) studied 144 community schemes across the country to help the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport understand how a targeted £1m boost is working.
Lincolnshire heath visitors announce more strike action
By David Harris | 07 August 2019 Health visitors in Lincolnshire have announced more strikes and rallies in their campaign for better pay and higher professional standards. Striking Lincolnshire health visitors have had "tremendous support" in their communities, according to Unite.
Kirklees children's services judged 'requires improvement'
By David Harris | 06 August 2019 Children's services in Kirklees, rated "inadequate" in 2016, is on the path to improvement, according to a new Ofsted inspection. Kirklees Council's children's services was rated "inadequate" in 2016 The Yorkshire authority has been rated "requires improvement" for overall effectiveness following an inspection in June. It received the same rating for the key areas of leadership, child protection work and services for looked-after children.
County 'does not fully understand' its child exploitation problem
By David Harris | 05 August 2019 Agencies working to combat child criminal exploitation in Northumberland do not fully understand the extent of the problem, according to a multi-agency inspection published this week.
Daily roundup 10 June: Antidepressants, Prevent strategy and children's centres
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Anna Smee to lead new youth employment scheme
By David Harris | 02 August 2019 UK Youth chief executive Anna Smee has been appointed to run the Youth Futures Foundation (YFF), the government-backed new employment initiative for disadvantaged young people. Anna Smee joined UK Youth in 2014 In a planned transition, Smee will continue to head up UK Youth until the end of the year while the youth charity searches for her replacement.
Violence a 'significant driver' of youth homelessness, finds study
By David Harris | 02 August 2019 Violence and criminal exploitation have become "significant drivers" of youth homelessness, according to research by housing charity Centrepoint.
Call for 'significant changes' to special guardianship orders
By David Harris | 01 August 2019 A review has urged that "significant changes" should be made to guidance on special guardianship orders (SGOs), including a requirement that the child has been looked after by the proposed carer. Special guardianship orders are increasingly being used by the family courts.
Stability Index reveals 'explosion' in number of older children in care
By David Harris | 01 August 2019 An "explosion" in the number of older children going into care for reasons such as criminal or sexual exploitation is putting the system under pressure, the children's commissioner for England has warned. Children's commissioner Anne Longfield says that a steep rise in older children entering care, is causing high rates of instability.
National Citizen Service Trust drops major provider
By David Harris | 01 August 2019 The National Citizen Service Trust has said it will not renew the contract of the charity it uses to deliver its programme in London, the South East and the West Midlands. The National Citizen Service aims to provide a personal and social development programme for 16- and 17-year-olds.
Abuse inquiry urges councils to review safeguarding procedures
By Joanne Parkes | 01 August 2019 The independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) has urged councils to review a range of safeguarding systems, after it found abuse by care staff took place in Nottinghamshire over decades. The report's recommendations have wider implications for foster care safeguarding.
Gangs and Criminal Exploitation: Special Report
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New civil society minister welcomed by youth sector
By Joanne Parkes | 31 July 2019 The new civil society minister has been welcomed by the youth sector, alongside concerns that there remains no dedicated youth minister. Baroness Barran tweeted that she "can't wait to get started" on her new job as civil society minister.
'Youth service guarantee' urged to tackle violence
By David Harris | 31 July 2019 Major investment is needed in local youth services and prevention work - including a new "youth service guarantee" - according to a cross-party group of MPs. Home affairs committee chair Yvette Cooper MP says the situation is a "national emergency and must be treated as one".
Mediation helps Bengali young people leave gangs behind
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Making the case for health visiting
Making the case for health visiting Councils should recognise vital preventative role played by health visitors and protect services, says expert. Job losses, service cuts and strikes - these are the subjects that have dominated coverage of health visiting in recent months. Since the Conservative and Liberal Democrats coalition government delivered on its 2010 pledge to push health visitor numbers past the 10,000 mark, the number of practitioners has fallen by a quarter.
Contribution of health visitors is beyond words
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Relocation, Relocation, Relocation: Home and School-Moves For Children Affected by Extra-Familial Risks During Adolescence
Relocation, Relocation, Relocation: Home and School-Moves For Children Affected by Extra-Familial Risks During Adolescence This paper explores the practice of moving children out of their neighbourhoods to protect them from risks such as sexual exploitation, serious youth violence and exploitation by county lines gangs, and examines the extent to which this achieves safeguarding of children.
'Invest in the childcare workforce to get best outcomes for children'
By Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green, former children’s commissioner for England | 30 July 2019 "What a mess! Despite investment to give more infants nursery care, there are huge problems with recruitment and retention, and so much unwillingness to gain any further qualification." These are not my comments. They come from a colleague who I spoke at a meeting last month.
Services collaborate to tackle CCE in South Yorkshire
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HITZ teaches young people the values of resilience
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Underage Drinking as a Natural Part of Growing Up: Study of Parental Beliefs
Underage Drinking as a Natural Part of Growing Up: Study of Parental Beliefs The authors explore parents' beliefs about underage drinking to find out whether there was a link between their beliefs and their children's alcohol consumption.
Leading the fight against county lines gangs in Kent
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Keeping Kids Safe: Improving Safeguarding Responses to Gang Violence and Criminal Exploitation
Keeping Kids Safe: Improving Safeguarding Responses to Gang Violence and Criminal Exploitation This report by the Children's Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, investigates what it means to be a child gang member in England. In it, she states that gang exploitation is currently not adequately understood, identified, prioritised or responded to.
That Difficult Age: Developing a More Effective Response to Risks in Adolescence
That Difficult Age: Developing a More Effective Response to Risks in Adolescence Drawing on evidence from research and practice, this paper breaks down the understanding of risk in adolescence into a set of principles designed to encourage an "adolescent-centred" approach to supporting young people. Report authors Dr Elly Hanson and Dez Holmes, Research in Practice, November 2014 Key Messages Responses to adolescent risk are ineffective and do not fit with the lived experience of young people.
Time is the key in secure school reforms
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Speech and language: The 30 million word gap
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Pilot schools, Boston, USA: International Focus
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Leaders call for a clearer vision of council youth work duties
Leaders call for a clearer vision of council youth work duties Review of statutory guidance for youth services will, says the youth minister, "provide greater clarity" on what government expects councils to deliver, but leaders say this must come with extra funding and other changes. The government launched a review of statutory guidance for council youth services in July, the first re-evaluation since 2012.
How to address the childminder decline
By Dan Parton | 30 July 2019 Inquiry aims to reinvent childminding as experts call for less council red tape and more support from government to stem falling numbers. As warnings go, it is stark: in just 15 years' time, childminders could be a thing of the past if the current decline in numbers continues. That was the claim from the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (Pacey), as it launched its inquiry into childminding in the 21st century recently.
How foster agency builds co-production into its everyday procedures
By Craig Clark, registered manager, Orange Grove Fostercare | 30 July 2019 Young people steering group helps shape agency's future fostering services and gives fostered children a voice. Name Orange Grove's Steering Group Provider Orange Grove Fostercare Orange Grove is an independent fostering agency established in 1996, currently taking care of more than 400 children across the South East, Midlands, North West and Yorkshire.
The importance of dads in the early years
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Campaign aims to tackle LGBT+ foster carer myths
By Nina Jacobs | 30 July 2019 A council has launched an awareness campaign to tackle myths around fostering to encourage more lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) people to consider becoming foster parents. Research has shown LGBT+ couples are just as likely to improve fostered children's wellbeing as heterosexual couples.
In the August edition of CYP Now: 30 million word gap, gangs and CCE special
By Derren Hayes | 30 July 2019 In the latest edition of CYP Now, early years expert James Hempsall assesses the evidence on the difference in communication skills between disadvantaged children and their better off peers - dubbed the 30 million word gap. He outlines the wide range of initiatives and programmes aiming to close the gap and help disadvantaged children catch up.
Towards a Contextual Response to Peer-on-Peer Abuse: Research and Resources From MsUnderstood Local Site Work 2013-2016
By Barnardo’s | 30 July 2019 This report presents findings and resources from a three-year review exploring contextual safeguarding responses to children's experiences of "peer-on-peer" abuse. Report authors Carlene Firmin with George Curtis, Danielle Fritz, Paul Olaitan, Lia Latchford, Jenny Lloyd and Ikamara Larasi, September 2016 Contextual Safeguarding is an approach to understanding, and responding to, young people's experiences of significant harm beyond their families.
Ofsted analysis highlights domination of largest care providers
By Nina Jacobs | 30 July 2019 A third of the private and voluntary children's home sector in England is owned by just 10 companies, new Ofsted figures show. Ofsted social care director Yvette Stanley says the figures provide a "helpful snapshot" of children's home provision in England The data, Inspection profiles of the largest private and voluntary providers of children's homes March 2019, says the largest of these providers owns 185 children's homes.
Disadvantaged pupils' attainment 18 months behind peers
By Nina Jacobs | 29 July 2019 Progress to close the gap in GCSE attainment has stalled for the first time in nearly eight years meaning disadvantaged pupils are leaving school more than 18 months behind their well-off peers. The EPI research found that the gap between the most disadvantaged pupils and their more privileged peers narrowed at primary level but widened at secondary school.
Northamptonshire children's services 'inadequate' again
By Joanne Parkes | 29 July 2019 Northamptonshire's children's services' have been rated inadequate again after inspectors found multiple failings - including children being placed in unsafe care settings.
New vision for children's centres is top priority
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Charities must evolve to stay relevant
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How restorative parenting is helping children in care recover from trauma
By Annette Rawstrone | 14 June 2019 Suffering the trauma of abuse, loss or rejection severely impacts on a child's ability to develop both socially and emotionally and therefore achieve their full potential.
Council reprimanded and fined for removal of children from foster carers
By Nina Jacobs | 14 June 2019 A council has been criticised for the "unjust" way it removed two children from foster carers who wanted to adopt the siblings, an investigation has found. East Riding of Yorkshire Council said it had learned lessons and changed practice as a result of the case.
Vulnerable children lose out on advocacy services, research finds
By Nina Jacobs | 13 June 2019 Advocacy services for vulnerable children are "inadequate" in many areas and impeded by council "confusion" over their statutory obligations, analysis from the children's commissioner has found. Advocates provide independent information and help to ensure children and young people are heard and their rights protected.
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