Family Rights Group chief executive, Cathy Ashley, said:
“Every day, the crisis in children’s social care gets worse. We are letting down children and families and draining the public purse in the process.
“Funding pressures on local authorities, and cost of living pressures on families are severely acerbating the situation.
“Family Rights Group is urging Government to support the most valuable resource that children have: their families.
“We know family-centred approaches to children’s social care deliver better outcomes for children and reduce costs to the state. For instance, family group conferences are proven to be effective in safely keeping children out the care system. Whilst kinship care provides children who cannot remain at home with love, greater stability and better outcomes. No wonder 91% of families would choose kinship care if they were unable to care for their children. And yet kinship care is too often an afterthought.”