The Children Act 1948 (11 & 12 Geo. 6. c. 43) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that established a comprehensive childcare service.Law and Ethics in Children's Nursing by Judith Hendrick The law followed the Curtis Report, which addressed child welfare and was released by a government committee headed by Myra Curtis. The Act was strongly influenced by the inquiry into the Dennis O'Neill case. The law reformed the services available to deprived children, consolidating existing childcare legislation and establishing departments "in which professional social work practice would develop in child care and, in due course, in work with families".Understanding Social Policy by Michael James Hill The act made it clear that it was the duty of local authorities to receive into care any child who was without parents or whose parents could not care for him for any reason, if it was in the interest of the child’s welfare.Labour and Inequality: Sixteen Fabian Essays edited by Peter Townsend and Nicholas Bosanquet
The new duties imposed upon local authorities by the legislation (particularly to receive deprived children into care) resulted in childcare services working more closely with families. The act also led to a new approach towards parent-child relations, encouraging the newly established Children’s Departments "to view children as individual human beings with both shared and individualised needs, rather than an indistinct mass".Law and Ethics in Children's Nursing by Judith Hendrick
Subsequent developments The whole act was repealed for Scotland by section 95(2) of, and part I of schedule 9 to, the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, which came into force on 17 November 1969 and 15 April 1971.
The whole act was repealed for England and Wales by section 89(3) of, and schedule 6 to, the Child Care Act 1980, which came into force on 1 April 1980.
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