One in five children in care living more than 20 miles from home, charity says
There are almost 18,000 children in care in England living more than 20 miles from home, new data has revealed.
The report, carried out by charity Become, warns that growing numbers of children in care are being moved to children’s homes and foster carers far from family, friends, school and community, due to a shortage of suitable homes locally.
The charity observed that the moves often happen “without warning” and have “a devastating impact on children’s lives, disrupting their education, life outcomes, and relationships”.
According to the data, children in care are now living further away, on average, than they were a year ago, with the number of children living more than 20 miles from home representing one in five children in care in England.
Children in private children’s homes are two and a half times more likely to be living far away than those in non-private accommodation, and four out of five children in secure settings are living more than 20 miles from home, the report revealed.
Further, children who experience multiple moves are more likely to be placed more than 20 miles from home.
The report warned that children living more than 20 miles from home have “significantly” lower wellbeing than those who are placed closer to home.
Making recommendations for change, the charity called on the government and local authorities to:
- commit to stop children being placed miles from home
- publish strategies to increase the supply of appropriate local options
- recognise and register the number of times children are moved inappropriately
Katharine Sacks-Jones, CEO of Become, the national charity for children in care and young care leavers, said: “We hear time and again from children in care the devastating impact of being made to move to an area of the country they don’t know. This often happens without warning and sometimes multiple times a year.
“This means moving away from friends, brothers and sisters, school and college – and being left lonely and isolated, at greater risk of exploitation with real consequences for their lives and futures.”
She added: “It is unacceptable that with each year that passes, the situation is getting worse with more and more being sent away from the people and places that matter to them. This new data shows just how urgently the new Government must act. We need a national commitment and strategy so that all children in care have a safe and suitable home in the right area and get the love and stability they deserve.”
A Local Government Association spokesperson said: “We have long raised concerns over the availability of homes for children in care and we want to work with the Government to address these. Councils in particular report difficulties finding placements for young people with particularly complex needs or challenging behaviours.
"There is no one size fits all approach to meet the needs of individual children. There are very good reasons why some children are placed outside their home area. This could be for their own safety, to place them near other family members or to access specialist services.
“But we need to be sure that these out of area placements are always made for the right reasons, and it is certainly true that, as record numbers of children have needed to come into the care of local councils in recent years, this has put a real strain on the availability of local, high quality provision in some areas.”
The Department for Education has been approached for comment.
Lottie Winson
