Homeless teens enter the equation
Ravi Chandiramani
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
The numbers of looked-after children are on the rise as the recession takes its toll on families and social workers become more risk-averse in the aftermath of Baby P.
Now there is another pressure on councils' role as corporate parents. Local authority children's services departments need to factor in the demands on social care services from 16- and 17-year-olds that are homeless. As we reveal this week, councils in London are bracing themselves for a 20 to 30 per cent increase in the looked-after children population as a result of accommodating homeless teenagers, costing up to an extra £2.4m a year.
Their calculations follow a landmark judgment by the House of Lords in May, which found that Southwark children's services had an obligation under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 to accommodate and provide social care services to a homeless 17-year-old male. The young man had been sofa-surfing, sleeping in cars, snatching showers and washing his clothes when he could. He was therefore quite reasonably considered by the Lords to be "in need". As a result of becoming looked after, he will also be entitled to leaving care support.
The Southwark case opens the door for many more homeless 16- and 17-year-olds to become looked-after. Until now, homeless young people have been covered by housing legislation. Children's services departments will need to shoulder their duty under section 20 but they can call on the housing department to help discharge this duty by providing suitable accommodation, so joint working protocols with housing services will be key. Nevertheless, the ruling is going to mean an additional strain on resources at a time of major budget cuts across all councils. The extra spend estimated by the capital's local authorities don't even include the costs of leaving care services.
The upshot is that children's services have an added financial incentive to prevent young people from becoming homeless in the first place. This is the responsibility of all agencies - social care, youth services, Connexions and schools among them.
Mediation services with young people and families, relationship counselling and better training in life skills will all help. The strategies to prevent youth homelessness will be critical to stave off the longer-term social and economic costs of more young people entering the care system.