More than 100 social workers gathered in London today to challenge politicians on the crisis in their profession.

The education of children in care in the UK has been labelled “a national disgrace” by the chief executive of think tank the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU).

SOCIAL services officials say they are determined to improve the quality of residential and nursing home care in Hull.

Lack of state support for disabled teenagers as they move into adulthood means they are held back from living independently, with some even forced to go into residential care homes for the elderly, according to research published today.

A SOCIAL services department ‘ignored’ warnings about a boy, 11, who went on to rape a nine-year-old boy.

AN inquest jury examining what led a 15-year-old St Helens boy to hang himself in a young offenders institute has ruled that “systemic failings” in both the prison and the community contributed to his death.

The boss of a Cumbrian charity for abused children has issued a personal plea to children’s minister Ed Balls over plans to close an NSPCC centre in Whitehaven.

Ofsted, the childcare watchdog, has been forced to issue a humiliating High Court apology for its handling of a legal challenge by Sharon Shoesmith, the social services chief sacked over the Baby P scandal.

The number of councils struggling to recruit and retain children’s social workers has risen by 50 per cent in the past year, a Local Government Association survey (LGA) has revealed.

Social workers in charge of vulnerable children are leaving council care departments at a steeper rate than previously thought, a survey has revealed.