Longfield, who is now chair of the Commission on Young Lives, shared a letter to James Cleverly warning of the risks posed to 16- and 17-year-olds living in independent and semi-independent accommodation, including becoming involved with county lines drugs gangs.
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The current children’s social care system is “not equipped to look after the growing number of older children in care” despite 16- and 17-year-olds making up almost a quarter of the current population of looked-after children, Longfield says.
A lack of provision geared towards protecting older children leaves many placed in accommodation alongside adults “involved in gangs and crime” and away from family and friends, the letter adds.
Longfield accuses the government of “handing over” vulnerable teenagers to “criminals and abusers” due to its “slow progress” in creating specialist provision for older children.
She highlights a report by the Commission on Young Lives which states that the care system is “continuing to put some of the most vulnerable children in England at risk” and notes that latest DfE data shows that last year more than 2,000 16- and 17-year-olds were placed in independent and semi-independent accommodation within a week of entering care.
Longfield’s letter, first published in the Express newspaper, calls on Cleverly to “accelerate plans to increase the capacity of care for teenagers by financing the development of community children’s homes.”
She also urges the DfE to “respond to these matters as a priority” ahead of the department’s plan and timescale for the implementation of recommendations made in the Care Review which are expected to be published in winter.
The use of independent and semi-independent accommodation for children in care under the age of 16 was banned in September last year, however, campaigners have called for this to be extended to all children.
