Some children with serious mental health issues are facing waits of up to five months for help as services struggle to cope with a rise in demand, a report has revealed. The Children’s Society found that, on average, children and young people wait 66 days for an initial assessment by specialist services.
Former children’s minister Beverley Hughes has said she was seriously concerned about Kids Company’s finances and governance as far back as 2008. The Guardian reports that Hughes and then schools secretary Ed Balls rubberstamped a three-year grant of £12.7m in 2008.
Nearly 17,000 more children are at inadequate free schools and academies than inadequate local authority schools, Labour has said. The Guardian reports that Ofsted figures show 104,652 children attend an inadequate academy or free school compared to 87,668 children attending maintained schools.
A council has been criticised by the Local Government Ombudsman for removing two children from their beds 90 minutes after being informed by police that their foster carer was due to be arrested. The Midlands Express and Star reports that Sandwell Council also failed to return the children to their foster carer soon enough after the case was dropped.
Two leading youth support charities have announced that they will merge. YouthNet and Get Connected will come together to form a multi-channel support service to help young people access information and advice, combining their respective telephone helpline and digital presence.
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