Calls or ‘urgent reform’ of services to protect young children and babies

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for “urgent reform” of child protection and early help services for young children and babies, researchers have said. Latest government data reveals that incidents involving the death or serious harm of children under five where abuse or neglect is known or suspected increased by 27 per cent in April to September 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. Such incidents increased by 31 per cent for children under one (a total of 102 children) and 50 per cent for children aged one to five (a total of 48 children), the data shows. Read more.