Monitoring a Fragile Child Protection System: a Longitudinal Local Area Ecological Analysis of the Inequalities Impact of Children's Services Inspections on Statutory Child Welfare Interventions in England

Bennett, Davara L, Schluter, Daniela K, Melis, Gabriella ORCID: 0000-0001-7532-2563, Webb, Calum Jr, Reddy, Steve, Barr, Ben ORCID: 0000-0002-4208-9475, Wickham, Sophie and Taylor-Robinson, David ORCID: 0000-0002-5828-7724 (2024) Monitoring a Fragile Child Protection System: a Longitudinal Local Area Ecological Analysis of the Inequalities Impact of Children's Services Inspections on Statutory Child Welfare Interventions in England JOURNAL OF SOCIAL POLICY, 53 (3). pp. 617-637. ISSN 0047-2794, 1469-7823

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Abstract

Child protection systems monitoring is key to ensuring children's wellbeing. In England, monitoring is rooted in onsite inspection, culminating in judgements ranging from 'outstanding' to 'inadequate'. But inspection may carry unintended consequences where child protection systems are weak. One potential consequence is increased child welfare intervention rates. In this longitudinal ecological study of local authorities in England, we used Poisson mixed-effects regression models to assess whether child welfare intervention rates are higher in an inspection year, whether this is driven by inspection judgement, and whether more deprived areas experience different rates for a given inspection judgement. We investigated the impact of inspection on care entry, Child Protection Plan-initiation, and child-in-need status. We found that inspection was associated with a rise in rates across the spectrum of interventions. Worse judgements yielded higher rates. Inspection may also exacerbate existing inequalities. Unlike less deprived areas, more deprived areas judged inadequate did not experience an increase in the less intrusive 'child-in-need' interventions. Our findings suggest that a narrow focus on social work practice is unlikely to address weaknesses in the child protection system. Child protection systems monitoring should be guided by a holistic model of systems improvement, encompassing the socioeconomic determinants of quality.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	child protection, child welfare interventions, inequalities, longitudinal analysis, inspection
Divisions:	Faculty of Health & Life Sciences Faculty of Health & Life Sciences > Inst. Population Health
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	12 Jul 2022 15:19
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2026 07:50
DOI:	10.1017/S0047279422000587
Open Access URL:	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279422000587
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3158305
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