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Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

I support what the noble Baroness, Lady Massey, and all noble Lords have said on these amendments. In response to what my noble friend Lord Elystan-Morgan said, I think of what the noble Baroness, Lady Pitkeathley, has achieved over many years. I believe the organisation Carers UK is pushing the point of providing financial support to family carers and, if I correctly read the Sunday Times over the weekend, I understand that the Government are now seriously considering giving far more financial support to informal carers. I hope that will apply to these children as well. Listening to the debate, it occurs to me that when foster carers are well supported by social workers they feel far better able to do their job. I imagine the same applies to families as well. If they get good professional support, good CAMHS and good social work support, it will make a big difference to their lives. It is probably not just about money. In that case, we need to think again about the impact of social work practices. Again, I am grateful that the Minister in his letter recognised the need to think through very carefully what impact social work practices would have on those working on the margins of care and supporting families to keep children in their extended family. As he recognises, the social work practices could be so attractive, could be such a honey pot for social workers, that they would be pulled out of what has always been the Cinderella area of supporting families before children come into care. He said, either at Second Reading or in Committee, that children who can be cared for within social work practices must have a care order attached to them first. Therefore, I should be grateful for clarification of when exactly social work practices could start interacting with families and children. Once the child had a care order and he returned to his family—the point has been made that children often move back and forth from and into care—one would think that, even when the care order had been removed, the social work practice would keep in contact with the family and provide support. How far can social work practices go in supporting families such as these?