Children's social care charity Become found that at least 1,257 children in care moved homes between 18 December and 3 January, with an average of 79 children being moved per day.
These figures are representative of 96 per cent of local authorities, after 144 or 153 responded to a Freedom Of Information (FOI) requests submitted by Become.
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Young people help to improve the language of care
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Projects to support vulnerable children at Christmas
The data provided by local authorities also indicates that some children were moved multiple times during the Christmas period.
There was also a total of 54,620 placement changes in England in 2021/22, which Become says in a driver of instability faced by vulnerable young people in care.
The charity expressed particular concern around placement changes over the Christmas period, arguing that this will increase feelings of anxiety in care-experienced children.
Katharine Sacks-Jones, chief executive of Become, said: “These statistics are as shocking as they are upsetting. For children and young people in care, Christmas can already be a difficult and isolating time, without the family around them that many of us take for granted.
“But to move young people at Christmas, when their friends are enjoying presents, family meals and the usual festive joys, delivers yet more isolation and uncertainty. Care-experienced children are being moved into unfamiliar surroundings, leaving behind relationships they have managed to build, and into an environment they do not know.
“Of course, there are many reasons which mean that moves are necessary and can be of long-term benefit but the reality is that for young people in care, uprooting them at this time of year can be especially destabilising and serve as another reminder to them of the volatility they live with every day.”
A care-experienced young person supported by Become said: “Christmas often reminds me that I don’t have a ‘normal’ family. I am reminded of how different my experience of the world is.”
The charity also found that in 2021/22, 10 per cent of all children in the care system were moved three or more times, and almost a third were moved twice or more.
It futher revealed that older children, children in secure or specialist homes, and children with social, emotional and mental health needs are more likely to experience multiple moves than other young people.
Become has called on the government to take “urgent and ambitious action” by including a national commitment to reduce the number of placement moves in its response to the Care Review's report, which is expected early this year.
The charity is urging the government to include the following commitments in its response:
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Ensure that more children are moved to homes that are suitable for them to begin with, by recruiting more foster carers - including those able to care for children whose needs are not currently met by the system, such as older teenagers, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, those from ethnic minority backgrounds, and those with social emotional and mental health needs - and by providing additional investment to boost the number of children's homes in areas in need.
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Setting a national commitment to reduce the number of placement moves children in care experience, and to monitor this.
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Increasing accountability for local authorities where children experience multiple placement moves due to poor planning or inadequate local sufficiency.
Sacks-Jones said: “We are calling on the government to announce a national commitment and target to reduce the number of moves children in the care system experience.
“The government must also provide the necessary additional funding to boost the number of children’s homes in areas that need them, and to invest in recruiting more foster carers, particularly for those children who are currently not well served by the system.
“Become stands ready to work with the government swiftly to enact the changes that will ensure that children and young people in the care system are offered the stability and security they need.”
