To ask the Minister for Communities to detail the preventative measures his Department will put in place to reduce the number of children from deprived areas being placed into care.

The joint Department of Education and Department of Health Life Deserved Strategy for Looked After Children recognises the link between deprivation and entry to care, and includes a number of commitments aimed at supporting families at an early stage, and providing targeted and timely support to help keep families together where possible.

My Department provides funding support totalling £809,732.00 per annum to a multi-agency network of 29 Family Support Hubs across Northern Ireland to provide early intervention services locally to help families address a range of emerging issues, and to signpost families with specific needs to appropriate services. Through the Public Health Agency, my Department also provides funding of £1,332,000.00 per annum to the Early Intervention Support Service, designed to support families with emerging vulnerability, with the aim of de-escalating issues of concern, achieving sustainable change, and promoting capability and capacity within families to resolve difficulties they are experiencing.

An Edge of Care Service is also in place in each Health and Social Care Trust, providing intensive and targeted support to young people identified as being at particular risk of entry into care. The overarching aim of this service is to support children to be safe within their family and community.

The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care Services in Northern Ireland was clear about the need for more help for families to assist them to care well for their children and made a number of recommendations aimed at providing greater focus and attention to family support. In response to these recommendations, a dedicated workstream has been established as part of the ongoing Children’s Social Care Services Strategic Reform Programme, working with partners in the voluntary and community sector, to improve outcomes for children, young people and their families through earlier intervention. While still in its early stages, it is intended that this workstream will develop proposals to build on and extend the range of early intervention and support services in place for children, young people and their families.