Delegation of care experienced people petitions the prime minister
A delegation of adults who were in care as children will this afternoon (1st February, 4 pm) petition Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging him to rectify a recent change to the law which will cause lasting damage to the lives of vulnerable 16- and 17-year-olds in care.
Handing over a petition signed by 10,785 care experienced people, family members, foster carers, social workers, children’s lawyers and others who work with, and champion the rights of, children in care, the delegation wants the Prime Minister to ensure that every children in care is provided with a loving, caring home until they are at least 18. This is believed to be the first time adults who grew up in care have directly appealed to the Prime Minister to ensure that all children in care actually receive care.
Discriminatory secondary legislation came into force last September which stops councils putting children in care into properties without any carers or consistent supervision, but only if they are aged 15 years or younger.
The local authority practice of paying companies to accommodate children in care in shared houses, hostels, bedsits, flats and even hotels and caravan parks has mushroomed over the past decade – an increase of 189% between March 2010 and March 2020. During this same period, the number of children in care aged 16 and 17 has grown by 133%.
If property owners provide care and accommodation to children, the law requires them to register their establishment with Ofsted and follow children’s homes quality standards. However, owners are able to bypass these legal obligations by only giving children accommodation and support, not care. The new legislation says this is legitimate for 16 and 17 year-olds in care, but younger children must always be cared for.
Twenty-two children in care aged 16 and 17 died in care-less accommodation between 2018 and 2020. The children’s minister has refused to reveal the names of the councils responsible for these children, saying this would identify the children. Yet each of these 22 children were in the care of the state, and they should have all been safe, protected and well looked after.
A review by the Children’s Commissioner in 2020 found that children in care were frequently living in properties with vulnerable adults who had recently come out of prison, had addictions or were struggling with their own mental health difficulties.
Last year, the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel, recently given the task of reviewing the murder of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, revealed it had analysed 48 incidents where children had entered care as a result of abuse or neglect and had died or suffered serious harm while in care. It reported that children were entering care in adolescence following “long-term parental abuse and neglect, with significant trauma” and where children entered care as teenagers due to exploitation and involvement in gangs, “these continued once in the care system”.
The education secretary has set up an attendance alliance to ensure children are in school, while there are thousands of teenagers in care studying for their GCSEs while living in properties where they have to make their own meals, wash their school uniforms and motivate themselves when they are often feeling incredibly isolated and lonely. Together Trust charity asked councils for data on the number of 16 and 17 year-olds living in care-less properties who were going without education. Replies from 67 councils showed there were 3,253 children in care aged 16 and 17 who were missing education or training all or some of the time.
Over 6,000 16 and 17-year-olds – more than a third of the total number of children this age in care – live in properties without adult carers. These are disproportionately boys and children from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. Research commissioned by the Department for Education reported that four in ten children in care living in care-less accommodation were put there by councils within less than a week of entering care.
Ofsted has published guidance on the difference between care and support, indicating that children in care aged 16 and 17 who are living in properties with support (not care):
- Have significant periods when there are no staff present within the property.
- Have the same supervision, facilities, services and sanctions as adults living within the properties.
- Have full responsibility for their medication and health care appointments (and staff don’t have access to their health records).
- Don’t need any permission to stay somewhere else overnight.
Annie Gibbs, 36, lives in Greenwich, London and is part of Tuesday’s delegation. She was in care from the age of eight after her mother developed a terminal illness and passed away. She said:
"Being forced to live independently without emotional support often leads to poor mental health and exploitation, something that I personally experienced. I hope that the Prime Minister responds by mobilising proper investment into truly caring for all the children and young people his government is supposed to be looking after. Children and young people should be able to grow and have great lives, not simply survive.”
Isabelle Kirkham is travelling to 10 Downing Street from St Helens, Merseyside. She lived in foster care from the age of nine, and said:
"The Prime Minister and government need to realise the likelihood that many children will have lived very adult lives before going into care, with lots of responsibilities and pressures that they shouldn’t have had. They need love and care just like other children, but also to help them recover from very difficult times earlier in their lives.
Luke Elkins, 29, lives in Hertfordshire. He said:
“I was in care and then put into semi-independent accommodation from the age of 16. Even though I had support from a great foster family, I found the whole experience extremely difficult. I feel it’s very important we get the reality of this across to decision-makers. Would they want their own children to be living in a place without any care at 16/17?”
Rebekah Pierre, aged 29, lives in Croydon, London, and is now a social worker herself. She said:
“I am part of the delegation because I want to leave the care system in a better state than I found it. Living in care-less accommodation as a child had extremely damaging consequences on my mental and physical well-being, and I know many others went through the same. No child ought to navigate life on their own.”
Rowan Foster, 21, spent her teenage years in care. She lives in supported accommodation now and said she wouldn’t have survived this aged 16 or 17:
“I’m part of the delegation because I believe that all children, especially those who have had to grow up very quickly, deserve to be loved and cared for. I hope the Prime Minister will realise the value and importance of the people this petition is trying to protect.”
Sian Davis, 20, lives in Worcestershire and entered care as a teenager. She said:
“I don’t get it, everyone needs support in life, even grown adults, but children need love and care. You are a child until you’re 18 so I don’t understand why anyone would expect a 16 year-old to manage with just certain hours of support. Children need to feel loved and have a sense of belonging. Isn’t it bad enough that some of us missed out on that at the very start of our lives? Don’t cheat us out of it right at the last, and often the hardest, hurdle when we are teenagers.”
Terry Galloway, 45, will be travelling to Downing Street from Nottingham. He spent nearly all of his childhood in care and said:
“The courts award local authorities care orders for children until they are 18. They are meant to be in education, not becoming victims to criminal gangs, crime and domestic violence. Having been through the system myself, I know first-hand how isolating it is when everything drops away and there is no safety net. My sister was in care with me and was always looking for love. She was preyed upon by predator's all her life until she was eventually killed. We can't be sending our children into the world at 16 with no care.”
CONTACT:
Lucy Croxton, Together Trust, Policy, Public Affairs and Campaigns Manager
07825 596471
Notes
1. The delegation will hand in the petition to 10 Downing Street at 4pm on Tuesday 1st February. Individual members are available for media interviews, and there will be photo opportunities outside 10 Downing Street.
2. Article 39 children’s rights charity is due in the High Court next week (8-9 February) arguing that the change to the law discriminates against children in care aged 16 and 17.
3. Ofsted’s guidance on what counts as support or care – ‘Indicators for supported accommodation’ can be found here.
4. The secondary legislation was introduced into Parliament in February 2021 and came into force on 9th September 2021. It can be found here.
5. The government has announced it will make property owners providing supported accommodation to children in care aged 16 and 17 follow national standards. However, these will deliberately omit any obligation to provide care to children (so that providers can continue to bypass the children’s homes quality standards). Ministers have also announced Ofsted will inspect supported accommodation from April 2024 – however, the inspections will be focused on the providers (‘provider-level’) with inspectors only looking at a sample of places where children live. Government plans (published December 2021) can be found here.
6. Data on children in care can be found here.
7. In October 2021, in response to a question from Sarah Champion MP, the Children’s Minister Will Quince MP stated: “The number of children looked after who died whilst in independent or semi-independent accommodation during 2018-2020 was 22. All children were aged 16 or over. Due to the small numbers involved this figure cannot be broken down by individual age or local authority or into separate years to protect confidentiality”. The minister’s response can be found here.
8. The Children’s Commissioner for England’s 2020 review can be found here.
9. The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel report summarising its analysis of 48 incidents where children in care died or suffered serious harm can be found here. Article 39 children’s rights charity is awaiting a delayed response to a freedom of information request for further details of these children’s experiences in care.
10. The Together Trust’s research into the education of teenagers in care who are put into care-less properties can be found here.