Barnsley Approves New Service to Support At-Risk Children

A new service, recently approved, aims to assist at-risk children in Barnsley, potentially preventing their entry into the care system. This initiative, named Edge of Care, is designed to offer intensive support to families. The council’s cabinet was informed on Wednesday that this comes as the authority grapples with “increasing and unsustainable” expenditure on placements for children already in care. A one-off investment, totaling up to £1.15 million, was approved by cabinet members to establish and operationalize the service within the coming 18 months. Councillor Trevor Cave, who serves as the spokesperson for children’s services, stated: “Whenever we can, we want to support families to stay together to make positive long-term changes and provide the stability young people need to grow and thrive.” Councillors were informed that additional permanent staff would be hired to operate the service. The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) indicated that the Edge of Care service would provide early intervention, assisting families confronted with issues such as domestic abuse, substance misuse, and other difficulties. Its objective would be to deliver “timely and intensive support” to aid families in resolving problems, thereby preventing children from entering the care system and decreasing the number of children in expensive placements. A report presented to councillors highlighted national data indicating that approximately half of the children who received support from similar Edge of Care services in other areas did not become looked-after children. Cabinet members were informed that, without the implementation of such a service, Barnsley could incur an estimated £5 million in ongoing placement expenses. It was heard that successful implementation could lead to a 20% reduction in the number of children entering care in Barnsley, especially among 12-16-year-olds, and potentially a decrease in children placed in unregistered care arrangements. Cave described the new service as potentially “a brilliant opportunity to meet the best interests of each child’s needs and more positive outcomes for young people across our communities”. He further stated that it would enable the authority to deploy its financial resources more strategically to continue assisting Barnsley children “to aspire and achieve”.