Anne Longfield: Reform ‘unfit’ children’s social care system to support vulnerable teens
Fiona Simpson
Tuesday, January 4, 2022
England’s children’s social care system is “not designed” to support increasing numbers of older children entering care, Anne Longfield has warned.
The former children’s commissioner for England has published a damning report in her new role as chair of the Commission on Young Lives which states that the current system “was largely designed for small children” and is “unfit for purpose”.
It is “struggling to adapt to the needs of older children, including operating inflexible hours and work practices that are not suited to the often chaotic lives of vulnerable teens”, Longfield says, warning of the increased risk to older children from criminal gangs when they are placed away from their local area.
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Analysis: Put end to unregulated provision for under-18s, urge campaigners
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Gangs and Criminal Exploitation: Special Report
The report highlights that 10– to 15-year-olds have become the fastest growing group of children entering care and 16-and 17-year-olds with acute needs now make up 23 per cent of children in care.
“Instead of protecting vulnerable teenagers, the system is handing over some children to criminals and abusers by moving them away from their families and communities, moving them too frequently from placement to placement and continuing to place them in accommodation that puts them at risk of harm – sometimes alongside adults and those involved with drugs and crime,” the report states.
Figures obtained by the Freedom of Information Request sent to all London boroughs by the Commission on Young Lives show that in 2020/21 there were at least 4,340 children in care in London boroughs who spent some or all of their time in a placement out of their local borough and at least 1,516 in care in London boroughs spent some or all of their time in placements outside of Greater London.
“An over-reliance on a limited number of residential places where demand significantly outstrips supply, inadequate early identification of those children at risk of exploitation, cuts to funding for early intervention programmes, outdated fostering models, a broken children’s home ‘market’ and the frequent criminalisation of children in the care system is allowing too many children in care to fall into danger,” the report states.
Longfield also warns that risks of child criminal exploitation and involvement in violent crime is greater for young black boys due to “systemic racial bias in the system”.
The Commission on Young Lives is calling on the government to create stronger support systems for older children in care including the creation of a ministerial taskforce for “vulnerable teenagers at risk”.
Longfield is also urging ministers to ban the use of unregulated supported accommodation for all under-18s. Such settings were banned for under-16s last year with national standards for accommodation for 17- and 18-year-olds due later this year.
Other recommendations include a national recruitment programme for specialist foster carers for teenagers, a new “teenager in care” package of appropriate and high-quality modes of care for teenagers established by the Department for Education and the launch of a new “teenager at risk” helpline aimed at both vulnerable children and parents and families.
Longfield said: “A children’s social care system that is supposed to protect vulnerable teenagers is frequently putting them in even greater danger. Often, we may as well be handing over children directly to ruthless gangs and criminals. It is unfit for purpose.
“Resetting children’s social care in this new offer for teenagers will require determined action and some funding, but it is clear there are huge benefits not only to those vulnerable young people who need protection, but also to the public purse.
“We need a new offer for vulnerable teenagers in care and on the edge of care, and this report provides one.”