Children in care ‘handed over to criminals’ due to ‘failing’ system

Vulnerable teenagers moved away from their families and communities and placed alongside adults and those involved with drugs and crime, former children’s commissioner warns

‘Over-reliance’ on a limited number of accommodation places and ‘inadequate’ identification of children at risk of exploitation is leaving many at risk, says report (iStock)

Children in care are being “handed to criminals and abusers” due to a social care system that is “unfit for purpose”, a new report warns.

Research by the Commission on young Lives, chaired by former Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield, finds that over-reliance on a limited number of residential places and “inadequate” identification of children at risk of exploitation in the care system is leaving many at risk of harm.

In some cases, vulnerable youngsters are being moved away from their families and communities and placed alongside adults and those involved with drugs and crime, which Ms Longfield said is effectively the same as “handing over children directly to ruthless gangs and criminals”.

The report includes new freedom of information (FOI) data from 22 boroughs in London, showing that hundreds of children in care in the capital are being placed “out of borough” and into semi-independent accommodation, which is often unregulated, “unsuitable” and a “magnet for criminal and sexual exploiters”.

The figures reveal that, in 2020-21, there were at least 1,932 children in care in London who were living in semi-independent accommodation - an increase over the last three years – and that there were at least 4,340 children in care in the capital who spent some or all of their time in a placement out of their local borough.

The report highlights that these figures are a low estimate and are likely to be much higher across London given some boroughs with the largest numbers of children in care did not respond to the FOI.

Ms Longfield said that alongside the lack of residential places and failure to identify children at risk of exploitation, cuts to funding for early intervention programmes, outdated fostering models, and the frequent “criminalisation” of children in the care system was allowing too many children in care to fall into danger.

In March 2021, there were 80,850 children in care in England, the highest on record. Social services’ caseloads are increasing, and 10-15-year-olds have become the fastest growing group of children entering care, while 16-and-17-year-olds with acute needs now make up 2 per cent of children in care.

The report argues that a care system that was largely designed for small children 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.

The Commission’s report also reveals how the care system is failing some Black boys, with evidence showing that Black boys in care are more likely to go on and enter the youth justice system.

It heard evidence that Black boys, who are already disproportionately affected by gang criminal exploitation, are often receiving different services, including police responses, and are less likely to be seen as victims and more likely to be viewed as offenders.

Black children are already more likely to be in care compared with their share of the under-18 population, while the number of Black children in care who were adopted dropped by 50 per cent between 2015 and 2019.

Ms Longfield said the issue of the disproportionate numbers of BAME children, and particularly Black young people, not just in the justice system but in every part of the social care landscape suggested that there was “systemic racial bias” in the system.

Summing up her findings, MsLongfield 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.

"We know the number of vulnerable teenagers at risk of exploitation entering the care system is becoming older, with more complex and expensive needs, and growing. We also know this is putting an enormous strain on the whole children’s social care system. The recent horrific murders of two young children show the tragic consequence of a child protection system stretched to its absolute limit.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said it recognised that many vulnerable young people faced “new and growing risks”, and that it was providing “targeted support” through specialist Alternative Provision and SAFE taskforces, backed by £45m, to keep these young people engaged in education and to prevent them becoming involved in criminal activity.

“While the independent review of children’s social care continues, we are urgently reforming the system to address growing pressures. This includes by introducing national standards and new oversight from Ofsted for supported accommodation, and maintaining and increasing the number of places in these homes backed by £259m,” they added.