A year on from the publication of the Care Review…
Katharine Sacks Jones
Monday, June 5, 2023
It's hard to believe it is over a year since the publication of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, a 345-page document that included more than 80 recommendations for change and called for an additional £2.6 billion investment over five years including to reduce the number of children in care, which currently stands at over 82,000.
Eight months after publication, the government responded to the review with Stable Homes, Built on Love – a package of proposals with an investment of £200 million over a two-year period. Although there are some good things in there, such as an increase in the Leaving Care Grant allowance, from £2,000 to £3,000, it’s clear that anything that falls £2.4 billion short of what the review called for is not going to scratch the surface.
So, one year on, as part of the #ItsOurCare campaign, we joined up with other children’s charities to take 10 young care-experienced people to meet Claire Coutinho, minister for children, families and wellbeing, to deliver a card with messages from young people and to discuss how this ‘once-in-a-generation’ opportunity for radical change was progressing.
The key takeaway from young people (and we have to agree) is that things are just not moving quickly enough:
“Please bring forward urgent care legislation now, children and families shouldn’t have to wait any longer” (Alice)
“My hope for the future is that for all care experienced young people they get equal opportunities and it stops being a post code lottery - the reforms need to come in quicker so LAs can get the work done without loopholes!” (Shelby)
“The most important thing to me is the government actually acts upon what they say and stop asking the exact same question multiple times when they have "plans" but don't seem to act upon any of them” (Ace)
In our recent response to the government’s consultation on its implementation plans, we highlighted some of the more positive proposals that could significantly improve the experiences, opportunities and outcomes for care-experienced young people, including the extension of the Staying Put and Staying Close schemes, the commitment to introduce opt-out independent advocacy, and the extension of corporate parenting duties.
But these will not be implemented for a number of years and some will only be legislated for when parliamentary time allows, which is unlikely to be this side of a general election. This is far too slow. We want to see urgent action to #EndTheCareCliff, with expanded Staying Put and Staying Close schemes legislated for and implemented rapidly so children currently in care benefit from reforms.
An important area missing from the government’s plans is any commitment to address instability, which has a huge impact on too many children in care. We want to see this addressed including a national commitment that children in care shouldn’t live far from their local area (except in those cases where it’s in their best interests for example they are at risk in a certain area). Our own campaign, #GoneTooFar, highlights the shocking number of children being moved far away from the people and places that matter to them. The development of national and renewed local strategies to increase the number of appropriate local homes and carers to boost sufficiency is an absolute priority.
I will leave the last word to Amber, who wrote this in the Anniversary card to the Minister:
“The need for change in the care system is urgent and undeniable. Too many individuals continue to suffer negative consequences, while others are lost in the system. Action must be taken immediately to bring about much-needed improvements”
Read the messages from young people here: Care Review one year on: meeting Claire Coutinho. Read Become’s response to the government consultation here.
Katharine Sacks Jones, is chief executive of Become, the national charity for children in care and young people leaving care.
