The Government invokes the usual mantra: much has been achieved, but there is still so much more to do. It is right to claim that there have been some useful reforms. It is right to identify placement stability and greater continuity of care beyond the age of 16 as significant levers in achieving the desired outcomes.
But the two issues that recurrently lead the debate about looked-after children are the scale of educational underachievement and the premature or further criminalisation of young people. Care Matters does not shrink from the former, describing it as "shocking". The Youth Justice Board and the police have been working on a protocol regarding the latter - incidents such as minor damage that would typically be dealt with informally in a "normal" home but that attract a formal criminal justice response in the case of children in care.
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