Children’s service departments want to act preventatively, yet the datasets they hold lack information on the family context, making it hard to identify vulnerable children before they come into contact with care services. The Children’s Commissioner’s Office recently highlighted the importance of understanding the wider family context if vulnerable children are to be identified early.
Policy in Practice, together with Haroon Chowdry, Head of Analysis, Children’s Commissioner’s Office, talk about how benefits data can give crucial information about the family context, and how this can help with early identification.
We shared findings from our analysis of specific policy reforms, including Universal Credit, the benefit cap and the two child limit, and showed what impact they will have on levels of child vulnerability.
Listen back to hear:
- Findings of analysis on that policy changes have had on child vulnerability
- How data analysis can identify children at risk of being at risk
- Practical actions local authorities can take to act preventatively
View the webinar
This is really rich analysis. People can have a tendency to think of that as abstract, a nice-to-have, but it's really powerful. This is useful for intervening with particular families and households so we can, in theory and in practice, identify those households that are being put at risk of being at risk because of the two child limit or because of the move to Universal Credit.