{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,26]],"date-time":"2026-09-26T05:19:39Z","timestamp":1790399979756,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"3","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2017,4,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Based on a Freedom of Information request with data from 75 per cent of all English children\u2019s services departments covering over half a million children, this paper shows that 22.5 per cent of children born in the 2009\u201310 financial year were referred to children\u2019s social care before their fifth birthday. Three-quarters of them were at some point assessed, almost two-thirds found to be in need and a quarter formally investigated. These findings show the full extent of children\u2019s involvement in children\u2019s social care before the age of five. One in every nine children born in 2009\u201310 was suspected by social workers of being abused and this high level of involvement is only justifiable if it is demonstrably reducing harm and promoting well-being of children\u2014an outcome which is contested. Early Help\u2019s introduction was associated with high proportions of children being referred and assessed and rapidly increasing numbers of investigations, thus questioning its ability to prevent entry to the child protection system. The paper calls for a change from the current emphasis on individualised and investigative approaches to child protection in order to provide an effective and humane response to children, the majority of whom live in families affected by high levels of deprivation and poverty.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/bjsw\/bcw054","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2016,5,25]],"date-time":"2016-05-25T00:00:24Z","timestamp":1464134424000},"page":"793-811","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":36,"title":["Referrals and Child Protection in England: One in Five Children Referred to Children\u2019s Services and One in Nineteen Investigated before the Age of Five"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"47","author":[{"given":"Andy","family":"Bilson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Social Work, Care and Community, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, PR1 2HE, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katie E.C.","family":"Martin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Social Work, Care and Community, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, PR1 2HE, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2016,5,24]]},"reference":[{"issue":"2","key":"2025102313184265700_bcw054-B1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"171","DOI":"10.1111\/cfs.12064","article-title":"\u2018Resisting your good intentions: Substance-misusing parents and early intervention to support and monitor children in need\u2019","volume":"20","author":"Barnard","year":"2015","journal-title":"Child and Family Social Work"},{"issue":"3","key":"2025102313184265700_bcw054-B2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"771","DOI":"10.1093\/bjsw\/bct164","article-title":"\u2018A longitudinal study of children reported to the child protection department in Western Australia\u2019","volume":"45","author":"Bilson","year":"2015","journal-title":"British Journal of Social Work"},{"key":"2025102313184265700_bcw054-B3","author":"Bilson","year":"2016"},{"issue":"9","key":"2025102313184265700_bcw054-B101","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1566","DOI":"10.1016\/j.childyouth.2013.06.008","article-title":"\u2018Providing alternatives to infant institutionalisation in Bulgaria: How gatekeeping can benefit from a social development orientation\u2019","volume":"35","author":"Bilson","year":"2013","journal-title":"Children and Youth Services Review"},{"key":"2025102313184265700_bcw054-B4","volume-title":"Decision-Making within a Child\u2019s Timeframe","author":"Brown","year":"2012","edition":"2nd edn"},{"key":"2025102313184265700_bcw054-B5","article-title":"\u2018Child welfare inequalities: New evidence, further questions\u2019","author":"Bywaters","year":"2014","journal-title":"Child and Family Social Work"},{"key":"2025102313184265700_bcw054-B6","article-title":"\u2018Inequalities in child welfare intervention rates: The intersection of deprivation and identity\u2019","author":"Bywaters","year":"2014","journal-title":"Child and Family Social Work"},{"key":"2025102313184265700_bcw054-B7","volume-title":"Does Money Affect Children\u2019s Outcomes? 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