A few years ago I was involved in a proposal about how to enable more children to remain with their families and stay out of the care system and/or the judicial system. In both cases, a critical point seemed to be when the child was about ten.
The research into 500 case studies of children who had gone into care or the judicial system within three London boroughs showed that the families had been known to social services for anything up to eight years before and, on average, each case had had nine social workers.
In nearly all cases, families were described as having "complex needs", but which were often quite straightforward: fundamentally, families needed a wage earner in a job that was secure enough and provided enough money for the family to live on and they needed suitable housing - in one London borough, typically, three generations of a family are living in a one-bedroomed flat.
It is true that families often have other needs as well - for affordable childcare, help with immigration and language, and access to health and education services.
"Austerity" - a political choice not a necessity - has increased the pressures on many of these families, with caps on benefits for families with more than two children and housing benefit. Incidentally, the majority of families receiving these benefits are in work, they simply can't earn enough from a job to keep their families.
Supporting families, keeping children with their parents and enabling parents to stay together is also about changing the political and economic circumstances in which they live as well as tackling a system which is out of control, very costly and doesn't achieve very good outcomes for the majority of families - parents or children. This is a cost to all of us, whether we need support or not.
Thank you so much for this thorough reply. This part sent shivers down my spine when I read it..
My daughter is 11-years old and it was on her 10th birthday(Almost exactly) when she changed from "Daddies little girl" to "little miss Independent" No more hugs and she is sooo much more self-conscious. She is a fantastic young lady and has a heart of gold, but the rebellious streak I had is starting to surface. Very hard times as a single dad(and for her mum too). I remember my own parents had split up when I was 11/12-years old and after it happened their attention was elsewhere(Especially on my dads side) They where dealing with there own trauma while trying to raise us and I certainly noticed the change. I began using drugs and being very anti-social from around 13-years old. I was never nasty, but had a very irresponsible attitude. In my defense, I have always been more awake to the wrongs of the world than most of my friends and family. Even at this young age I knew that house prices were getting out of control and the Iraq War had just begun. When I started my apprenticeship at 16, I found out about low-pay for skilled manual work, while watching our bosses go on lavish "team-building" days. We worked our socks off and they sold it all off. We were all left jobless after years of loyal service. In short the society can go fuck itself. If I were to start again, I would be off-grid from the very start. The gov know full-well that they are poisoning society. Robots are coming to replace us on every level and they just want us to tear each other to pieces. If we don't all come together, we are doomed.
Your daughter sounds great! Cherish that rebellious streak and help her to use it well. I agree it can be hard, but ... one bit at a time 😊
Thanks Shan ;)