1 week Ago By [email protected] (Sophie Huskisson)
Thousands of young people were placed in council care more than 20 miles from their home last year due to a lack of alternatives, research shows today(MON). A third of vulnerable children in council care - more than 4,600 - had to be placed in accommodation disconnected from their community last year, according to the County Councils Network (CCN) and consulting firm IMPOWER. It is a rise of 18% since 2019.
Dwindling foster care capacity means kids in care are being increasingly placed in residential homes, they said. Since 2019 the number of children and young people placed in care has risen by 7% (5,690). But there has been a 45% increase in young people being cared for in children’s homes and supported accommodation, the study showed.
It is leading to less and less money being spent on preventative care services such as family support and children’s centres because “astronomical sums” are being spent on placements in residential homes, researchers said. Councils spent £6.6billion on children in care last year and the CCN’s report projects that local authorities will be spending almost double this amount - £12bn – in just six years’ time if nothing changes.
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PODCAST: And listen to our exciting new political podcast The Division Bell , hosted by Mirror interim political editor Lizzy Buchan and Express political editor Sam Lister, every Thursday. CCN and IMPOWER are calling for a £2.6bn investment into children’s services to help councils fund preventative services to keep more children with their families.
They are also calling for a comprehensive review of foster carer recruitment and retention and long-term partnerships with care providers. Cllr Roger Gough, CCN’s children’s services spokesman, said: “The biggest losers from the current system are young people themselves, with far too many children being placed many miles from home at a time when they are experiencing the trauma of being removed from their family. “If we carry on as we are currently almost 10,000 extra young people could end up in care by the end of the decade, at an enormous cost for both young people and local taxpayers.
It will leave us locked into a vicious circle of higher spend and poorer outcomes.” Dominic Luscombe, Director at IMPOWER Consulting, said: “Far too many children are in the wrong care for their needs because of the lack of available alternatives, the dysfunctionality of the care market, and a system that can place too much focus on 'risks' rather than young people's needs and aspirations.”.
