Responding to The Children’s Commissioner for England’s report ‘What is this plan for? The purpose and content of child in need plans’, Helen Lincoln, Chair of the ADCS's Families, Communities & Young People Policy Committee said:

"Every year hundreds of thousands of children, young people and families are supported via Children in Need, with a fraction of this number requiring higher levels of intervention such as a child protection plan or entering care. Government is currently trialling a new way of offering early help and support to children and families in several pathfinder sites as part of its response to the care review. More focus and investment in early or family help is always welcome, but we must make sure that any changes do not destabilise the system and ADCS are engaging with government reforms in this space.

"Ofsted inspection outcomes over time do show this is an area of strong and improving multi-agency practice. In the end it’s not the plan itself that keeps children safe, it’s the quality of the relationship and work between the child, their family and the social worker or family support worker."