Northern Ireland Findings from the Child Welfare Inequalities

Northern Ireland Findings from the Child Welfare Inequalities Research Project (CWIP) Dr Lisa Bunting (QUB), Dr Gavin Davidson (QUB) and Claire Mc. Cartan (QUB)

THE NORTHERN IRELAND STUDY • Investigating the relationship between area level deprivation and child welfare interventions (CPR/LAC) • Data accessed via the Honest Broker Service • All open cases at 31 st March 2015 involving children (0 -17 years old) recorded on SOSCARE • Postcode at time of referral linked to Super Output Area (SOA) • SOAs are a small area geography - 890 SOAs with an average population of 2, 000 people.

SOSCARE and Official Statistics • CPR – 100 less in BHSCT • LAC – 200 less in BHSCT and 100 more in SEHSCT and WHSCT • Family or origin postcode? • Aggregate returns? • Manual inclusion of cases not on SOSCARE?

Distribution of NI Child Population by Deprivation Decile

NI CPR and LAC rates by deprivation decile Children in the most deprived areas: • CPR x 6 • LAC x 4

Gender

Age Same gradient but: • 0 -4 year olds in the most deprived areas have even higher rates of being placed on CPRs • 16 -17 years old age groups in the most deprived areas have the highest LAC rates

Reason for CPR Registration • Same gradient in relation to neglect, physical abuse and emotional abuse • Sexual abuse relatively unchanged

Legal Status

CPR Rates by HSCT

LAC Rates by HSCT

UK Comparisons - CPR CPP Rates by Deprivation Quintile and Overall, Adjusted, 4 UK Countries, 2015 120 100 80 60 NI 40 England 20 Wales 0 NI England Wales Scotland 1 2 3 4 5 12 5 5 23 11 10 36 27 23 52 49 27 100 97 63 ALL 43 47 47 28

UK Comparisons - CPR CPP Rates by Deprivation Quintile and Overall, Adjusted, 4 UK Countries, 2015 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 NI England Wales Scotland NI England 1 20 12 5 5 2 14 23 11 10 3 23 36 27 23 4 37 52 49 27 5 68 100 97 63 ALL 43 47 47 28 Wales Scotland

UK Comparisons - LAC not at home or with relatives or friends by Deprivation Quintile, UK Countries, 2015 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 NI England Wales Scotland 1 2 3 4 5 ALL 13 10 18 26 19 34 35 35 45 61 57 82 112 135 188 52 62 82

UK Comparisons - LAC not at home or with relatives or friends by Deprivation Quintile, UK Countries, 2015 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 NI England Wales Scotland 1 13 10 18 2 17 26 19 34 3 29 35 35 45 4 31 61 57 82 5 48 112 135 188 ALL 35 52 62 82

Why is NI Different? Same broad legislative base, same threshold criteria, similar regional guidance and assessment process Do we process cases differently? • Significantly higher referral rates - 65% higher than England in 2013/14 and 48% higher in 2015/16 • Significantly higher levels of deprivation • Deprivation drives referral rates (Hood et al. , 2016) • High demand LAs tend to screen out more referrals and divert more cases to non-statutory services • Much lower proportion of cases in NI proceed to investigation- 50% less • Assessment – difficulties with comparability but lower in NI •

Why is NI Different? Do we have better, more integrated support? Well developed community and voluntary sector • Development of integrated Family Support Hubs since 2009 which cover all of NI • Links with anti-poverty policy, family support and area level initiatives (e. g. neighbourhood renewal areas) Is it attitudinal? • Poverty more widespread? • Better recognition the impact of poverty

SO WHAT?

Next steps? Policy • Alignment between anti-poverty policies, child protection, family support policies and social work strategies Services/Practice • Continued investment and development of family support hubs • Services which focus on income maximisation and debt relief services Research/Data • Routine collection of data on family background • Extension of case study work to Northern Ireland