Children And Families Services Overstretched

Vital services which help many of Scotland most vulnerable children and families are overstretched, a leading charity has claimed. NCH Scotland has submitted evidence to a Scottish Parliament inquiry into family support services. It identified short-term project funding and a lack of qualified social workers as two of the key issues affecting voluntary service providers. The charity provides a wide range of family support services in Scotland. Its family support work seeks to strengthen family relationships and provide children with the best start in life.

It addresses many issues including family breakdown, anti-social behaviour, alcohol and drugs problems, depression, domestic violence, offending and child protection.

In evidence to the Justice 1 Committee, NCH Scotland said the work of many of those services was hampered by short-term funding which left them continuously facing closure or cutbacks. Most of the charity’s family support services have standstill budgets, which effectively acts as a reduction in provision.

Recruitment problems in local authority social work departments are also said to be having a significant impact.

The charity has called on the committee to press the case for more secure long-term funding for family support services. It also urged the committee to address the issue of social work recruitment and to work towards increasing the capacity of social workers to assist vulnerable and difficult-to-reach children and families.

Andrew Girvan, director of children’s services at NCH Scotland, said: “There is a great deal of excellent work going on across the voluntary sector in Scotland in supporting families with difficulties. However, the nature of the way funding is organised at the moment means that many of these services have an uncertain existence, with cutbacks or complete cancellation a persistent concern.

“This is no way to run a service that is supporting some of our most vulnerable citizens. Effective early intervention can prevent much more expensive problems developing in later life. These services are effective and they can change lives but they need to be better supported if they are to provide the right help at the right time for the people who rely on them.”