Report finds (***********************************************************************************************% increase in number of placements in England out of local area
Thousands ofchildren in careare living more than miles from their family and friends in places they have never heard of and would not be able to find on a map, according to a report by the Children’s Commissioner for England.
More than (**************************************************************************************, 06 Children who are looked after by their local authority are placed away from home and “out of area”, a 22% increase over five years. More than 12, 10 of those live more than 24 miles from their home area and 2, 10 are placed more than 100 miles away.
While some children are placed further afield for their own safety, to protect them from criminal gangs or sexual predators, many have to move away because of a shortage of local places. They complain of being passed around the care system like parcels, often moved without warning or consultation.
According to commissioner,
While some told researchers they were thriving, others ’experiences, which are detailed in the commissioner’s Pass the Parcel report, make troubling reading. “I feel like a parcel getting moved around all the time, getting opened up and sent back and moved on to somewhere else,” said one teenage girl, in care over miles from home.
“I feel isolated,” said another teenage girl. “I don’t even know where I am… you feel like you have no one.”
One teenager living miles from home said: “I don’t even know where I am on the map.” Another teenage girl in care described frequent moves: “I never unpack cos I know I’ll be passed on somewhere else in a few weeks.”
More than half of those living out of their local area ( (%) have special educational needs and a quarter (24%) have social, emotional and mental health needs. The report states: “They may take a long time to build trust with adults and feel settled and yet this group are at risk of chronic instability at the hands of the care system.”
The report saysincreasing numbers of older children are going into care, which is putting pressure on the number of places available locally and meaning many are sent to live in children’s homes run by private companies, often based in cheaper areas. Older children in care in London are often sent out of area, while Kent and Lincolnshire take on disproportionate numbers of children from other areas.
The report says children placed long distances from home lose their support networks and are at greater risk of going missing. They also become easy targets for exploitation by criminal gangs which are expanding drugs markets through (county lines) .
“We wouldn’t want this for our own children,” said Longfield, “and we shouldn’t accept it either for those children who rely on the state to look after them”
The commissioner urged the government to act on its manifesto commitment to review the children’s care system as a matter of urgency. She also called on the Department for Education to review the residential care market and develop more incentives for councils to find local homes for children in care.
“The present system does provide love and support to thousands of children, but there are also many others who are living very vulnerable lives, many miles away from anyone they know. We have to make the state a better parent for these children. ”
Judith Blake, chair of the Local Government Association’s children and young people board, said: “Councils will always try to place children in a home near family members if it is safe to do so. However, the current soaring demand for places means that there aren’t always the necessary places in local areas. ”
The Department for Education has been contacted for comment.
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