The kids aren’t alright: Don’t forget the gap left by Kids Company's demise
Yet it would be too easy to imagine there are no wider lessons to be learnt
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The appearance before a parliamentary committee yesterday of the Kids Company founder, Camila Batmanghelidjh, and its chairman of trustees, Alan Yentob, signalled just how far the now-defunct charity has descended. Once feted by politicians of every hue, its key characters are now forced to answer questions about how things went so wrong.
Ms Batmanghelidjh is a remarkable individual and it was her personality that drove Kids Company to great heights in the first place. Her performance on 15 October was passionate and compelling. But there was a hint of bravado and, in her claim that the charity did not close as a result of mismanagement, either naivety or disingenuousness. The allegations which emerged over the summer about sexual abuse taking place on Kids Company premises hastened the organisation’s demise. But the evidence of chaotic administration was overwhelming.
Yet it would be too easy to dismiss Kids Company as a vanity project gone wrong, or to imagine there are no wider lessons to be learnt. Mr Yentob acknowledged that organisational restructuring should have taken place sooner. If change was unlikely to come from inside the charity, it now seems there were plenty of warnings from third parties – both to Kids Company’s trustees and to the Charity Commission.
Regulation of the charity sector is difficult: but it is hard to conclude that the failings in this case lie only with Kids Company. Indeed, successive governments funded the organisation to the tune of millions of pounds and basked in its glory. They too must share the blame for a lack of oversight. Moreover, for all the mistakes, Kids Company was truly transformative for a lot of young people – many of whom felt abandoned by the state. Ms Batmanghelidjh and Mr Yentob told MPs of the impact the charity’s closure has had on some of the youngsters it helped: suicide attempts, stabbings and murder. While cause and effect are hard to prove, it seems incontrovertible that there is a Kids Company-sized hole in the country’s youth services which needs filling – and fast.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments