The Benefit Status of Caregivers of Children and Young People Who Come to the Notice of CYPFS

Mike Rochford, Bryony Walker

Recent work in the Department of Social Welfare has focused on high-risk families that are likely to exhibit persistent, multiple and serious disadvantage. The presence of  some of these families on the case loads of both Income Support and the Children, Young Persons and their Families Service (CYPFS) has raised questions about the extent to which both services are dealing with the same pool of families.

This paper describes a study which estimates the percentage of children and young people who come to the notice of CYPFS and who are the children of Domestic Purposes Beneficiaries or other income-tested beneficiaries. More specifically, the study produces separate estimates for the two main types of notifications to CYPFS: youth justice notifications and care and protection notifications.

The study establishes that there is a statistical association between the two factors examined: benefit receipt and CYPFS notifications. However, the results provide no support for the stereotyped notions of the children of beneficiaries being likely to come to the notice of CYPFS. What the study does point to is an opportunity for developing a better integrated and co-ordinated response to the substantial number of families receiving income support and social services.