Recommendation | Commentary | October 2025 Update |
1 - Northern Ireland is not that large compared to the rest of the UK and to the Republic of Ireland and this should be considered in how children’s services are organised and delivered. | Guiding Principle | This recommendation has been adopted as a guiding principle for the reform of children’s social care. The Children’s Social Care Services Reform Programme continues to work collaboratively across the region to progress reform. One of the central approaches of the Programme to service improvement, highlighted at the Foundations for the Future conference in November 2024, is the identification of best practice in service delivery and consideration on how to scale up these approaches across the region. |
3 - Action needs to be taken to address the children’s social care workforce crisis. | Subject to funding availability – Assigned to Social Work Workforce Implementation Board (SWIBB) & the Workforce workstream | Social Care Working in collaboration with the equivalent workstream for adult social care on the Social Care Collaborative Forum, the workforce workstream of the Programme launched the Social Care Workforce Strategy in December 2024. This strategy sets out a vision and actions to develop a sustainable social care workforce over the next ten years. It includes 7 key priorities and 22 actions to develop career pathways, support the training and education of the workforce, and to raise the profile and recognition of the workforce as a skilled and competent social care workforce. A three-year implementation plan has been developed. The outline Band 5 job description for an enhanced support role for frontline teams: a ‘Children and Families Senior Support Officer’ has progressed through the Agenda for Change job evaluation process. As well as enhancing skills mix within children’s social care services, the new role has the potential to release social work time for tasks that require social work professional skills, reduce the numbers of unallocated cases and attendant risk and improve social worker retention. Subject to formal business case approval, the Department hopes to be in a position to recruit 60 Band 5 roles before the end of the financial year. Social Work The Department, in collaboration with the HSC Trusts, took the decision to cease the use of recruitment agency social workers in HSC services by end of June 2023. Up to until then, there were over 200 agency-employed social workers working in HSC Trusts – many within Family and Childcare Services. All of these agency social workers were offered contracts with HSC Trusts between January and June 2023, and the vast majority accepted. Ceasing the use of recruitment agencies to employ social workers has also allowed the HSC Trusts to engage in the direct and timely recruitment of newly qualified social workers into vacant posts. This has resulted in 204 vacant posts being filled between June and September 2023 and a further 221 vacant posts being filled over the same period in 2024. We anticipate that another 200+ newly qualified social workers will fill outstanding HSC Trust vacant posts between June and Sept 2025. It is likely that we will repeat this process in 2026. The Department is now working with Trusts to develop a robust workforce planning process and an effective and efficient recruitment model for HSC Social work for the next 10 years underpinned by good quality data. |
4 - There is the need for more help for families to assist them to care well for their children. | Guiding Principle | An additional resource has been appointed to workstream 9 – Family Support - to bring focused and dedicated leadership to the reform of family support. A new relational, tiered, neighbourhood model of supporting families has been developed under the Reform Programme. The Together for Families model is cross-sectoral and collaborative, operates at all levels of family need and is connected at every level – from universal provision through to the provision of specialist family support by HSCTs. The aim would be to prevent children entering care or being able to return home as quickly and safely as possible. Subject to investment, the model would be implemented across Northern Ireland. |
5 - Now is the time for action to tackle the difficulties for children and families and for children’s social care described in the TOR and within this report, and the action needs to be taken without drift or delay. | Guiding Principle | The need to deliver reform within children’s social care services at pace is acknowledged. The Department recognises the challenge of doing so alongside the challenges of business as usual for those involved in the delivery of frontline services. To that end, the Department of Health has provided funding for dedicated co-ordinator posts to support the work of the Reform Programme. As reflected above, additional human resource has been applied to the Programme, including a new Director of Social Care Reform. A 5-year strategic plan for the Reform Programme is being developed to provide a clear vision and focus on a small number of priorities to drive meaningful and sustainable change across the system. |
6 - In deciding how to respond to this Review there should be a wide and inclusive consultation which draws on the wisdom of all who have experience and engagement with and within children’s social care. | Guiding Principle | The Department of Health consulted on the Review recommendations from September – December 2023, reporting on the consultation on 10 July 2024. The responses to that consultation continue to inform the work of the Children’s Social Care Services Strategic Reform Programme. Reform Programme workstreams have engaged with children, young people, parents, carers and professionals in progressing work to deliver against the recommendations assigned to the workstreams, such as, the ongoing work for a Northern Ireland Strategic Plan for Residential Care Services for Children and Young People 2025-2030. This included: Direct engagement with parents whose children were in residential care to ascertain their views and experiences and what improvements/changes they would wish to see. Extensive work undertaken by VOYPIC directly with children and young people to obtain the views and perspectives of children and young people with experience of residential care. The development of a Children and Family Charter is also being taken forward as part of the Children’s Services Reform Programme to address some of the issues raised in the Review by children, young people and families. The aim is to create a Charter that is built on partnership with children, young people, parents, carers and staff, not for them. The work has been going on since last year and involves three phases as follows: Phase 1 involved 13 workshops with 97 participants, including young carers, care-experienced young people, parents, carers and young people with disabilities. They identified four key principles to guide how services work: Respect, Listening, Equality and Honesty and a Charter Model with four components: Standards, Support, Share and Speak Up. As well as being clear about what the Charter should contain, participants also emphasised that it should be visually engaging, easy to understand and widely accessible. They told us they preferred eye-catching, colourful designs with minimal text, using pictures, videos and infographics to explain key messages. There was a strong focus on promoting the Charter through social media, using videos, animations and voice recordings of young people to bring it to life. Participants also stressed the importance of offering different formats and need to ensure materials are age-appropriate and accessible for all. Phase 2 involved initial consultation on the Charter Model. This tested the model through an online consultation with 67 young people, parents, carers and practitioners. All confirmed strong support for the Charter and its principles. Phase 3 will involve a number of Digital Workshops, which will work directly with young people to co-create digital content such as videos, stories and visuals that explain what the Charter means in their own words and voices. Work is underway to develop a communication plan for the Reform Programme. |
8 - The organisations delivering children’s social care services should undertake their own staff recruitment. | Partially accepted. | Over the last number of years, considerable effort has been made to adopt a more regionalised approach and this has resulted in significant gains including the ending of agency social work use and success in maximising the recruitment of the newly qualified university cohort each year. The Department continues to favour the improvement approach. However, we have also recognised the need for some bespoke recruitment arrangements to meet individual Trust pressures and needs and have supplemented the regional approach with a number of specific recruitment exercises. If a decision is made to establish a Children and Families ALB, this could be revisited in the planning process. |
9 - Grading and banding structures need to be reviewed and revised. | Subject to funding availability – Assigned to Social Work Workforce Implementation Board (SWIBB) & the Workforce workstream | Work has begun on developing career pathways for social workers. Any grading and banding considerations that emerge will need to align with Agenda for Change structures, terms and conditions. Depending on the recommendations, additional funding may be required |
11 - There should be a focus on staff retention. | Subject to funding availability – Assigned to Social Work Workforce Implementation Board (SWIBB) & the Workforce workstream | Social Care The Social Care Workforce Strategy 2025-2035 puts measures in place to ensure that the workforce has the recognition, tools and support they need to thrive. There is a focus within the strategy on improving recruitment and retention, providing better training, and make sure staff feel valued, safe and supported in their roles. A three-year implementation plan has been approved to take forward some of the key actions. Key Priorities Supporting Staff Retention: Improvement, as required, of the Pay, Terms, and Conditions; Workforce Recognition and Valuing Contributions; Health and Well-being Support; Career Development and Continuous Learning; Strategic Workforce Planning; Promoting Social Care as a Career of Choice. The Department continues to progress the work of The Fair Work Forum which aims to embed Fair Work initiatives and enhance terms and conditions for social care practitioners. A Care in Practice Framework (CIP) has been developed which sets out a career path with progression for people starting out in social care and helps more experienced staff to be recognised for their skills. It also provides opportunities for improved learning and development for those that do not want to avail of formal qualifications. An interactive web resource demonstrating how to use the CIP Framework has also been developed. This resource helps social care practitioners to understand what a qualification and continuous professional learning journey might look like, and it has had over 7,000 active users access the resource since its launch in May 2025. A new qualification that sits with the CIP framework is the “Level 2 Certificate in Safe and Effective Practice” which provides social care practitioners with the key skills and values needed to commence a career in social care. The review of the current qualifications in the CIP Framework are ongoing to ensure they remain fit for purpose and can be added to the Apprenticeships NI Framework. It is anticipated that all qualifications will be available for registration by September 2026. The Social Care Council will scope a new level 4 Diploma/Open University Higher Education Certificate in social services that has been introduced in Wales and consider its application in NI. This stand-alone qualification for social care practitioners is also a pathway into the second year of the OU degree in social work. The Social Care Council and Open University have developed a survey for social care practitioners working in children’s social care services to seek their understanding of the qualifications and training needed to support their development. This work will ensure children’s social care needs correctly align with the CIP Framework. Funding has been made available to the voluntary and community sector to avail of the Training Support Programme which helps fund training courses for those working in social care. Guidance for social care employers to support staff who have been subjected to racism is expected to be published by end October 2025. The guidance is intended to provide social care employers with the knowledge, tools and practical strategies necessary to create and maintain anti-racist workplaces. It provides a framework for identifying, preventing and responding to racism. The Social Care Making a Difference Campaign is in its fifth year. This year the focus was on the diversity of staff and the range of opportunities that are available – from school leavers to those returning to work later in life. An evaluation of the Social Care Making a Difference Campaign has commenced and is expected to be concluded in 2026. Social Work Retention is a priority of the of the Social Work Workforce Implementation Board (SWWIB). All HSC Trusts continue to engage in a range of activities designed to support and retain the large number of newly qualified social workers who have entered the HSC workforce. This includes coaching and mentoring, stay-well activities, peer support and group support with experienced practitioners. The Office of Social Services annually supports the delivery of two Mindfulness Based Social Work training programmes; with approximately 60 social workers completing the training annually.. Evidence from evaluations indicate a significantly positive impact on individual well-being and also on practice. Safer staffing in Social Work The Office of Social Services has developed Safer Staffing in Social Work Guidance, which makes a range of recommendations in relation to workforce planning, social work workloads and caseloads. The guidance will be issued to Trusts for initial familiarisation in November 2025, and an implementation plan will be developed in 2026. The SWWIB recently reviewed its achievements from 2022-2024 and agreed a 2025-27 action plan focussing on the attraction, recruitment and retention of social workers. OSS is currently working in collaboration with QUB and HSCTs to focus on implementing key messages from research in relation to retaining experienced social workers and to pilot a range of retention and wellbeing initiatives. Guidance on what supports and retains social workers including key messages from research will be finalised and disseminated to HSCTs in November 2025. Funding has been secured to employ a Band 7 Social Work Recruitment, Retention and Wellbeing Co-ordinator in each HSCT. This is a new role which will be key to maintaining workforce stability. |
14 - The relationship with the Department of Health should be re-set in line with the intentions of the 2022 Health and Social Care Act (Northern Ireland). | Action ongoing/in progress - Departmental | A Departmental circular outlining the respective roles of Trusts and the Department in relation to children and social care statutory functions is almost complete. |
16 - There should be the further development and deployment of multi-professional and multi-agency frontline teams and services to assist children and families. | Action ongoing/in progress – Assigned to Waiting Lists workstream | A desktop review of multi-agency ‘front door’ models in children’s services across the UK and internationally has concluded. The review has identified a number of potential options for Northern Ireland. An analysis of a sample of referrals to HSCT Gateway services and their journey over a 6-month period (Jan-June 2024) across all 5 Trusts was undertaken to aid decision making and recommendations in respect of a future model for the ‘front door’ model for Northern Ireland. A new model for family support (see recommendation 4) has been developed that would include the establishment of multi-disciplinary family support teams that would be co-located / aligned with other agencies / services. Implementing the model is subject to investment. |
17 - There should be the further development of a skills mix within children and families frontline teams and services. | Subject to funding availability – Assigned to Social Work Workforce Implementation Board (SWIBB) and the Workforce workstream | The outline Band 5 job description for an enhanced support role for frontline teams; a ‘Children and Families Senior Support Officer’ has progressed through the Agenda for Change job evaluation process. The new role has the potential to attract people with experience, training and qualifications in other children’s roles such as youth work, childcare and classroom support into children’s social care services. Subject to formal business case approval, the Department hopes to be in a position to recruit 60 Band 5 roles (12 per Trust) before the end of the financial year. |
18 - The Executive and Department of Health should create and use powers to mandate, and processes to assist, the development of integrated multi-agency services. | Action ongoing/in progress – Deferred/Dependent on Rec 16 | This action is dependent on the outworkings of Recommendation 16 and any legislative amendments required to facilitate a Northern Ireland model of a multi-agency ‘front door’. |
21 - Build on and enhance Post-Qualifying Development programmes and qualifications for social workers and link them to specialist areas of practice and to career progression within statutory children’s social care services. | Action ongoing/in progress – Departmental (Assigned to Social Work Workforce Implementation Board (SWIBB)) | Social Care Career Development and Continuous Learning is a Strategic Priority under the Social Care Workforce Strategy launched in December 2024 Social Work The development of a career pathway in social work is a priority of the Social Work Workforce Implementation Board (SWWIB). Work is currently underway developing career pathway guidance for social workers in NI that links the post qualifying training framework and CPD to career stages. |
22 - There needs to be a re-set and re-focus for children’s social care services to give a greater focus and attention to family support. | Subject to funding availability – Assigned to Family Support workstream | Refer to update on recommendation 4 – a new model of family support model has been developed and costed, led by the A dedicated leadership resource alongside a leader from the voluntary and community sector. This model, subject to investment, aims to move from crisis lead, reactive support, to early, community based family support. The model will provide integrated, tiered, need responsive, seamless services that prioritise early intervention and prevention and promote and facilitate family and community resilience. The model has been designed with input from a number of stakeholders through the family support workstream of the Reform Programme, research around ways of working in other jurisdictions and informed by extensive input from parents/ carers young people and professionals. |
24 - Re-arrange statutory services team structure to have more of a community focus and presence. | Action ongoing/in progress – Assigned to Waiting Lists workstream | The work to explore optimal team structures as part of the broader programme efforts to strengthen the children's social care workforce is ongoing. However, regional variation in existing structures presents challenges to harmonisation, with differences in team composition, service integration, and transition points for young people moving to leaving and aftercare services. Work is ongoing to identify opportunities for greater alignment while recognising the need for some level of flexibility to reflect local circumstances. |
25 - Previous reviews of foster care policies and services should be updated and acted upon now and not allowed to drift. | Action ongoing/in progress – Assigned to Policy & Legislation workstream | Work is nearing completion on the new draft Foster Placement and Fostering Agencies Regulations. The Committee for Health has agreed the making of the new Regulations and there are a number of elements under consideration by the Department to determine the most appropriate date for making and bringing them into operation. The Regulations aim to improve the assessment and approval process for foster parents and will place new duties on Trusts and fostering agencies in respect of the information, training and support they provide to foster carers. The Regulations will be complemented by new Minimum Standards which have been prepared following extensive engagement, which involved a muti-sectoral stakeholder working group comprising representation from all key stakeholders, including those representing care-experienced children and young people and foster parents. The Department recently carried out a full public consultation in respect of the draft Minimum Standards, from 9th June 2025 until 7th September 2025. Further direct engagement with foster parents and care-experienced children and young people was facilitated by both The Fostering Network and Voice of Young People in Care (VOYPIC) during the public consultation. The Department is at the initial stages of beginning the analysis of all consultation responses, identifying any arising issues submitted in the responses for further consideration by the Department. The Standards will not be completed until all consultation responses have been fully considered. |
26 - Foster carers should be recognised and positioned as valued members of the children’s social care workforce. | Guiding Principle – Assigned to Fostering workstream | Recognising and supporting our foster carers as an integral part of the social care system has also been adopted as a guiding principle for the Reform Programme. The Department accepts the need for better remuneration of foster carers, although this will be a challenge given the current budgetary constraints and ongoing financial pressures. It is important to understand exactly what better remuneration means and what it will cost to provide. Work is ongoing to comprehensively assess what is currently paid in terms of allowances and fees across all five HSC Trusts. The first stage of a DOH-SPPG Review of Foster Care Payments commenced on 1st June 2025 and will fully analyse the data collated from HSC Trusts and identify regional discrepancies, financial pressure points and areas of excess expenditure and to confirm a baseline cost of a child in foster care. It is anticipated an analysis of HSC Trust fostering expenditure submitted to SPPG will be undertaken as part of this review. A 2% uplift increase to fostering allowances has been factored into the 2025/26 financial plan and included in indicative allocations provided to SPPG. All HSC Trusts have become Fostering Friendly Employers and are in the process of implementing a Fostering Friendly Policy with additional paid leave provisions for HSC Trust approved foster carers (mainstream/non-kinship and kinship) and supported lodgings hosts and those making an application to become a carer/ host. In doing so, HSC Trusts are demonstrating that they recognise the invaluable contribution foster carers and supported lodgings hosts make to the lives of children and young people in care. The development of fostering friendly policies is consistent with relevant workforce strategies and offer practical support and flexible working arrangements to respond to the needs of staff in these caring roles. The objectives of this policy include attracting more employees to consider becoming a foster carer or supported lodgings host, expand the pool of carers, promote a positive work-life balance for employees and agreeing a regionally consistent support offer across all Trusts; and raise awareness of these caring roles across the public sector and the wider community. The forthcoming HSCNI fostering recruitment and retention strategy and implementation plan will address the need for wider regional promotion of The Fostering Network’s Fostering Friendly Employer’s Scheme across public sector organisations and more widely. A multi-agency task and finish group is in the final stages of scoping fostering support models and approaches including how best to harness and utilise the skills and expertise of foster carers through the development of peer support. The group is also scoping current practice in the co-production, coordination, delivery and evaluation of foster care training and will make recommendations on a regional learning and development framework for foster carers, aligned to current strategy intent, policy and minimum standards for fostering services. |
27 - The experience and expertise of foster carers should be harnessed through, for example, the region-wide introduction of the Mockingbird model. | Action ongoing/in progress – Assigned to Fostering workstream | Work is continuing to progress in respect of foster service models. Scoping of literature and best practice in foster care recruitment has been completed and a series of meetings have taken place involving policy leads from other Nations, Local Authorities, Coram Foster links and the delivery partner for the Department of Education’s (England) Fostering Recruitment and Retention Programme, Mutual Ventures. A field visit to Greater Manchester Combined Authority took place 3-4 March to learn about the Authority’s Regional Fostering Recruitment Support Hub and Mockingbird Constellation. A Share the Learning/ Knowledge Exchange event on fostering recruitment and support models/ approaches took place on 25 March 2025 with approximately 60 attendees and a summary of evaluation responses was shared with workstream members. The Fostering Workstream of the Reform Programme is in the final stages of making proposals and recommendations for a fostering recruitment service delivery model based on best practice locally and learning from models elsewhere. The proposed model will consider regionalisation of services and economies of scale and will, support HSC Trusts to work together to address sufficiency challenges whilst improving the experience of prospective foster carers. The model will address the need for a wider skills mix across fostering recruitment services, how best to utilise foster carers’ skills and expertise and the potential to use peer mentoring/ buddying to support recruitment and retention of foster carers. A multi-agency Fostering Assessment Task and Finish Group is in the final stages of making revisions to the Coram BAAF fostering assessment tool and guidance for NI. A regionally standardised and streamlined assessment process and tool will be finalised by December 2025 for implementation by Trusts and Independent Fostering Agencies which keeps the needs of children central to the fostering assessment process; and, overall, is intended to improve the experience of prospective fostering applicants. |
28 - Consideration should be given to the public sector provision of additional smaller children’s homes. | Subject to funding availability – Assigned to Residential Placement Capacity workstream | A strategic plan that will provide a vision for residential care in Northern Ireland is now at final draft stage. The plan details 10 actions for improvements. A multi-building pilot is being planned following the completion of a paper that considered the feasibility and benefits of this model of children’s home management. A meeting is due to be held across the region in respect of any suitable estate that could be considered to pilot multi-building provision. Projected need in respect of EBD and CWD has been developed which will be considered going forward in respect of provision required across the next 5 years. |
29 - Do not allow the privatisation of care of children. | Guiding Principle | The Department remains fully committed to safeguarding the integrity of statutory children’s social care services. In Northern Ireland, private provision is currently very limited, and the majority of care continues to be delivered through statutory and voluntary sector services. At June 2025, there were 58 registered Children’s Homes; 48 are statutory sector providers and 10 independent sector providers. A small number of these are ‘for profit’ providers. While our long-term goal is to further strengthen statutory provision and expand in-house specialist services, it is important to ensure that the needs of children and young people are met effectively and safely. In the past, this has meant using limited private provision where it offers the most appropriate care, particularly for children with very complex needs. The Department is focused on ensuring that any use of private provision is strategically managed, carefully regulated, and used only when absolutely necessary. Work is ongoing to develop a Residential Care Strategy that will provide a vision for residential care in Northern Ireland, including the promotion of therapeutic approaches and reducing the need for children to be placed in private provision, either internal to Northern Ireland or outside Northern Ireland. |
30 - Respite care for children with a disability should be expanded and with children receiving respite care not seen as looked after children. | Subject to funding availability – Assigned to Children with Disability workstream | Following the Minister’s announcement of additional investment of up to £13.1m per year in Children’s Disability Services in October 2024, HSC Trusts have been working with SPPG to provide additional information, including costs. Aligned to HSC Trust delivery plans, SPPG has allocated £1.376m was spent in 2024/25 to develop various initiatives across HSC Trusts to improve family and community support services for children with a disability, enhance short break provision and expand targeted care programmes. Business cases outlining HSC Trust proposals have been developed and are currently being considered. Some progress in restoring and / or expanding residential and / or short break capacity has been made. While some short break beds are already operational, most new placements and the expansion of existing placements are scheduled to be rolled out between April and December 2025. All Trusts have outlined clear timelines for implementation. Recommendations for new regionally standardised payment rates for Short Breaks / Share the Care carers / befrienders have been made to enhance recruitment and retention. The recommendations were informed by a review of current provision and rates and recruitment / retention challenges of Short Break carers. A paper outlining a proposed regional model of Short Breaks Fostering for children with a disability is being finalised to support the development and expansion of the model across all five Trusts and in compliance with forthcoming fostering regulations and minimum standards. A marketing and recruitment plan outlining activities at a regional and local level is also being developed to attract and engage potential short breaks foster carers across the region. Trusts have progressed a number of proposals relating to family support and early help including the negotiation of extended contracts with voluntary and community sector partners. A number of engagement sessions with families regarding these proposals have taken place within Trusts, including with those featured on the BBC Spotlight programme. Section 121 of the Adoption and Children Act (NI) 2022 will, when implemented, enable short break accommodation to be provided to disabled children outside of the looked after system. Guidance is currently being drafted to support this change when introduced. The Act also enables the Department, by way of regulations, to prescribe other categories of children to whom such short break accommodation may be provided, again outside of the looked after system. The Department intends to consult on this issue in early 2026. |
31 - Extend the transition period where appropriate and necessary for young people moving to adult services. | Subject to funding availability – Assigned to Children with Disability workstream | A transitions protocol, including an easy read version, for young people with a learning disability transferring to adult services under the Learning Disability Service Model has been developed. The draft protocol reflects engagement with young people, families and other stakeholders. Alongside the draft protocol a data dashboard / template has been developed which includes a mechanism to track all young people transitioning from children to adult services from the age of 14. HSC Trusts have started to populate the template and feedback to date has been positive. The template is aimed at improving early planning and securing greater regional consistency. An addendum will be agreed for education and health needs and consideration will be given towards developing a protocol for young people with physical disabilities / complex needs. A pilot of the transitions protocol has been included as part of a joint transformation bid with DfE. |
32 - Introduce a region-wide transitions advice and advocacy service. | Subject to funding availability - Departmental | This recommendation has been accepted in principle, subject to funding availability. However, implementation has not been progressed at this stage, given current budget constraints. The Department remains committed to strengthening advocacy support for children and families and will continue to explore opportunities to progress these recommendations as resources allow. |
33 - Accommodation within the positive post-18 services needs to be expanded and more readily available. | Subject to funding availability – Assigned to Residential Placement Capacity workstream | Work is ongoing to implement the 18 recommendations of the Review of Jointly Commissioned Supported Accommodation for young people aged 16-21+ which was published in September 2023. Local Planning Groups with representation from NIHE and other key agencies have been assessing needs within each geographical area, developing profiles of those needs and identifying and addressing gaps in service provision Work is underway to evaluate current transition pathways and forecast future needs for jointly commissioned services for young people aged 16+. A new process for accessing assessment beds for 18+ homeless and care-experienced young people has been drafted and will be piloted. There has been exploration of the potential to use different registration categories to more flexibly support the accommodation needs of care experienced young people by offering alternative accommodation options. A paper has been developed by SPPG outlining the context, after care population projections, current challenges, current accommodation and supply in each HSC Trust and current projects seeking to increase the accommodation supply. This work will be complemented by NIHE Supporting People Modernisation project and the new Supporting People Strategy. The Department of Health Review of Supported Living, covering a wider range of supported accommodation, is also relevant to this work. The HSCNI fostering recruitment and retention strategy and implementation plan (referred to at recommendation 26) will consider accommodation for young people provided through Supported Lodgings and the Going the Extra Mile (GEM) programme which enables a young person to continue living with their former foster carers.). The New Foundations Action Plan and Homewards (an initiative being progressed by the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales) will also support young people leaving care and help to prevent homelessness over the next 3 years. |
35 - Create less formal opportunities for the judiciary and leaders of children’s social care services to build relationships and shared agendas to tackle current pressures and difficulties between the courts and children’s social care services. | Action ongoing/in progress - Departmental | This recommendation is being progressed with the Lady Chief Justice’s Office who has agreed that an annual liaison meeting will be held with the shadow Family Justice Board Chair, Directors of Children’s Services and the Children’s Court Guardian Agency. The first joint meeting between the Judiciary, CCGANI and Children’s Services Directors took place on 27 May 2025 and members agreed the forum was effective and would be maintained for next annual meeting schedule for 26 May 2026. There are other pieces of work the Family Judge has been consulting with the HSC Trusts and CCGANI in relation to including a Family Justice - Media in Court Pilot which is due to launch in early November, with an informal information session on 5 November. |
36 - An independent parent-led organisation(s) should be funded to provide support and advocacy for parents engaged with children’s social care services. | Subject to funding availability - Departmental | Funding was provided for a Peer Parent Advocacy Pilot. The Knowledge and Skills for Parent Advocacy Practice Programme is currently underway. There are 14 students in total taking the course, 9 of these are parents with previous lived experience of children's social care and 5 are colleagues who are working with families in the community sector. The programme is a 20-credit module at level 4 and runs for the 12-week semester at Magee. It focuses on 5 core evidence-based themes. The programme was co designed with parents with lived experience, based on best available evidence, and in consultation with several parent advocacy services (independent and Local Authority run) across the UK and internationally. This remains a pilot initiative, and any further development beyond the initial phase will be subject to funding availability. |
37 - Children and young people in care, and leaving care, should be able to identify and name a person they trust who will be recognised as a continuing presence alongside the young person in their engagement and relationships with children’s social care services. | Action ongoing/in progress – Assigned to Policy & Legislation workstream | Under the Adoption and Children Act, statutory independent advocacy services will be available to support children in need, looked after children, children subject to a Special Guardianship Order, adopted children and care leavers to make representations (including complaints) about Trust services. All care leavers receiving continuing support will also have a personal adviser appointed. |
44 - There should be reflection about whether young people with a learning disability should be cared for and assessed within a hospital in-patient service. If this is to continue, action should be taken to tackle the isolation of the in-patient service. | Action ongoing/in progress – Assigned to Children with Disability workstream | Work has been ongoing since the publication of the Review report. There is now an accountability meeting held quarterly between BHSCT and SPPG in connection with Iveagh and Beechcroft. This is chaired by Deputy Director SPPG. Iveagh staff now attend meetings of the AD Disability Group, which has enabled connections to be made with disability issues more generally. Iveagh is part of the CAMHS Managed Care Network (MCN), which has enabled connections to be made with the wider mental health agenda. The MCN review process that has been applied to Beechcroft will be applied to Iveagh. A scoping exercise of HSC Trust Intellectual Disability needs has been undertaken within Trusts. A meeting with the Health Service Executive (HSE) in the Republic of Ireland, the ID CAMHS lead in SPPG and Dr Heather Hanna who is a Consultant psychiatrist in the Southern Trust is expected to take place in November to further develop the ID CAMHS model of both in patient and community care services required to develop a model of ID CAMHS for the future. There will also be a regional engagement event with Trusts in January 2026 to further progress the model. |
46. The process, as already intended, of undertaking Case Management Reviews should be speedier and more participative. | Action ongoing/in progress - Departmental | A review has been completed and made 18 recommendations, 2 of which are for the Department and 5 jointly for the Department along with others (including for example SBNI and DOJ). Subject to Ministerial approval, the Department intends to progress the recommendations assigned to it, although implementation will require additional staff resource. The SBNI have accepted all recommendations and have worked at pace to progress and action recommendations relevant to them. To date SBNI havs completed work in relation to 9 recommendations. Work in relation to a further 2 recommendations is underway. The remaining recommendations relating to SBNI are joint with the Department of Health and will be progressed when resource within the Department allows. |
47 - The relationship between the statutory funders of services and the VCS sector which provides services needs to be re-set as more of a partnership rather than a purchasing relationship. | Action ongoing/in progress – Assigned to Reset & Rebalance workstream | A seminar involving key stakeholders across sectors and departments was organised by Reset and Rebalance workstream of the Reform Programme on 12 June 2025 to examine the existing policy and legislative framework around funding and how it is being implemented across government; to identify best VCS funding practice and to examine through discussion how improvements can be made. The work of the Reset and Rebalance workstream will support the work being led by the Department for Communities (DfC) to implement and evaluate the Partnership Agreement and the associated Fair Funding Principles. DfC and DfE officials will meet with the Reset and Rebalance group in November to consider how their work can support this. |
50 - The difficulties facing children’s social care services need to be tackled with pace. | Guiding Principle | Refer to update at Recommendation 5. |
51 - There should be a wide consultation on the proposals and recommendations from this Review. | Guiding Principle | Refer to update at Recommendation 6. |
52 - Within six months, and the start of the New Year, decisions should be taken and action initiated to make the significant changes necessary to tackle the long-standing systemic and endemic difficulties for children’s social care which impact on children and families and on the practitioners and managers who throughout this Review have demonstrated their commitment and their expertise but who are hampered and hindered by the current arrangements. | Action ongoing/in progress – Departmental | Significant and necessary work has been undertaken under the Reform Programme to develop a robust evidence base and a clear understanding of what is needed to deliver lasting reform within children’s servics. The Programme is now moving to a new phase led by a five-year strategic plan which will provide a clear vision and a focus on a small number of strategic priorities for the purpose of driving meaningful and sustainable change across the system. |
53 - There should be an annual conference, with participation by young people and parents and all who seek to provide help, to track progress and with a key role for a proposed cross-cutting Children’s Minister along with the independence of the Children’s Commissioner in facilitating the conference. | Subject to funding availability - Assigned to Reset & Rebalance workstream | The Children’s Social Care Service Review Conference - Foundations for the Future - took place on 27 November 2024. The conference brought together a wide range of stakeholders, including statutory agencies, voluntary and community sector partners, service providers, and those with lived experience, facilitating open dialogue on the future of children’s social care in Northern Ireland.The conference provided a valuable platform to share progress on the reform programme, discuss key challenges and opportunities, and gather stakeholder feedback on priorities for future action. In February 2025, a Conference Newsletter issued to stakeholders. This publication outlines the key messages, insights, and feedback gathered during the conference and highlight the next steps in the reform journey. It serves as a tool to keep stakeholders informed and engaged, promoting a shared understanding of the evolving landscape of children’s social care services. An online newsletter is currently being developed that will be distributed to stakeholders and staff, to keep them up-to-date on social care reform. The first issue is due to be published in November 2025. Reform Programme workstreams have engaged with children and young people in the work they are taking forward to progress recommendations. |