Number of children taken into care in Dundee doubles doubles

CHILDREN’S services in Dundee have reached “saturation point” with record numbers of vulnerable children being taken into care.

Dundee City Council is heading for a £1.6 million overspend in its children’s services budget with the number of children in care having almost doubled to more than 700 in the past decade as a result of parents with drug misuse problems, child neglect and other factors.

Alan Baird, the council’s director of social work, has told councillors in a detailed report on the crisis that more children than ever before are having to be cared for in family placements on an emergency basis to try and cope with the demand.

“Difficult decisions have to be made as to whether they should remain in placement or be moved for financial reasons,” he warned.

The crisis is revealed in a report by Mr Baird to the council’s policy and resources committee. He stated that there are currently 708 children in care in the city as a result of interventions by Dundee City Council. They include 21 babies and 36 children who have suffered abuse.

He explained that more than £2m had been earmarked to fund “projected financial pressures” within children’s services. But a net overspend of £1.6m was now being forecast.

The situation in Dundee appears more serious than other parts of the country. Glasgow has 3,725 children who are looked after by the council, but 2,340 of them are cared for in the community. There are 255 children from Glasgow in residential homes or secure care. A spokeswoman added: “We are always dealing with constant pressure on our children’s services.”

In Edinburgh, a council spokesman said there was a shortage of foster carers for vulnerable children.

Meanwhile in Aberdeen, a council spokesman said children’s services were not at saturation point, adding: “We assess every case and if we find a child needs our help we will always offer assistance.”

Mr Baird states that a combination of factors in Dundee, including increased awareness surrounding child protection, domestic violence and child neglect and parental substance misuse problems, has led to more children than ever before being taken into care.

The in-house Dundee City Council fostering and residential service had reached saturation point, with more young people being placed in external family placements on an emergency basis.

Mr Baird said: “Despite success in recruiting more in-house foster carers, demand for appropriate family placements continues to outstrip the supply of in-house carers and the council has had to increasingly rely on the use of external placements.

“No-one would want the agencies tasked with protecting children in Dundee to revert to a position of reduced awareness of child protection, reduced information sharing or reduced referral, so the challenge must be to better deploy the combined resources of the local authority, health board, police and voluntary sector.”