Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, has published a set of reports (The children who no-one knows what to do with / Private provision in children's social care) showing how the children’s residential social care system is broken and is failing many of the most vulnerable children, in particular those who are most at risk of falling through gaps in the system and becoming victims of criminal or sexual exploitation.
The third report, “The 2020 Stability Index”, is the Children’s Commissioner’s fourth annual study of the instability that children in care experience. This year’s update shows that:
- 1 in 10 children in care moved home at least twice in 2018/19, while 1 in 4 moved home at least twice in two years. Just over 11% of children care enrolled at school in 2019 had a change of school during the school year. These rates have generally not improved since 2015/16.
- 6,500 children in care had three or more home moves over the last two years, meaning they had at least four separate homes to live in over two years.
- Older children are more likely to experience multiple home moves. Rates are highest amongst 12-15-year-olds who have recently entered care: nearly 1 in 5 of this group moved home two or more times in 2018/19.
The Children’s Commissioner is making a number of recommendations to improve the provision of children’s social care in England and you can find them within the attached report.