- By India Pollock
- BBC Wales social affairs correspondent
Raeanna Grainger says the Covid pandemic meant children “lost their school routine, they missed their friends and the clubs they were involved in”
A social services leader has said she is “frightened about the future” of children’s services.
It comes as BBC Wales research showed a huge increase in demand on local authorities.
One council in Wales saw safeguarding referrals – where a child is at risk of abuse of neglect – double in the past year.
The Welsh government said it was aware of the pressures on councils and would continue working with its partners.
More than 220,000 contacts were made with children’s services departments in 2022-23, out of a population of about 623,000 under-18s in Wales.
That is up from 201,452 the year before.
Compared to 2021-22, the number of contacts increased in all but three of the 20 councils that responded to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from BBC Wales.
Denbighshire saw the biggest rise – 8,202, up from 5,147 in 2021-22 – while Bridgend…
