Government should invest in children’s homes, specialist foster care and intensive family support to protect teenagers from exploitation, says commission led by former Children’s Commissioner.
The government must invest in specialist placements to reform a care system not working for vulnerable teenagers and protect them from exploitation.
That was a key message from a 14-month review into preventing vulnerable young people from being drawn into gangs and violence, led by former Children’s Commissioner for England Anne Longfield.
In its final report, published last week, the Commission on Young Lives found young people at risk were identified late and placed in unsuitable residential settings, often far from home, or in foster placements designed for younger children.
Agencies were often unable to safeguard these teenagers because of a confusion over their role in protecting them and inadequate joint working, leading to “poor decisions and major gaps in support”, it said.
Alongside reforming placements for teenagers in care, the commission also urged the government to invest in intensive family support to prevent young people from entering care or being drawn into gangs.
‘Horror stories’
Longfield called teenagers’ criminal exploitation a “national threat to our country’s prosperity and security” .
“Speak to youth workers in our towns, and cities and they will tell you their own horror stories,” she said.
“Of young people being chased in broad daylight by other teenagers waving machetes, of homes where the young people involved in the drugs trade are the main breadwinner in the family, of communities where organised criminals seek out and groom very vulnerable children who have fallen through gaps in the care, health, or education systems, almost with impunity.”
Government statistics on children in need, published last month, revealed that, in 2021-22, local authorities detected 16,000 instances of child sexual exploitation, 11,600 of gang activity and 10,140 of child criminal exploitation following assessment.
The commission’s report said these statistics were likely to be “the tip of the iceberg”, while it also highlighted the growth in the number of older children entering care.
From 2012-13 to 2018-19 there was a 26% increase in the number of 13- to 17-year-olds entering the care system, according to figures produced by Longfield in 2021, when she was Children’s Commissioner. As of March 2021, 10- to 15-year-olds accounted for 39% of children in care, and those over 16 23%, according to government statistics.
A care system not working for teenagers
Photo; motortion/Adobe Stock
However, the commission’s report found that the care system had “failed to keep up with the needs of the growing profile of teenagers in care”, notably through the predominance of family-based foster care designed for younger children.
While the number of children’s homes had grown over the past few years, the report found there was “a chronic shortage of places for teenagers”, and that these were unevenly distributed around the country.
As a result, teenagers were often placed out of area, increasing isolation and leaving them at greater risk of being exploited or going missing.
Children aged 12 and above were also more likely than younger children to have more than two placements a year, according to previous research by Longfield, which the commission’s report said increased their feelings of loss and instability.
The shortage of children’s home placements had led to a growing use of unregulated placements – now reserved for 16- and 17-year-olds – that were often unsafe or inappropriate for their needs.
To make the care system more tailored to teenagers’ needs, the commission recommended:
- Creating 300 new local children’s homes or converting them from unregulated provision, which would support 1,500 teenagers.
- Recruiting and training 2,000 specialist youth foster carers for teenagers unable to live with their family or whilst on remand.
- Supporting 3,000 families to provide kinship care for teenagers.
It estimated councils would need £60m for the recruitment, training and support of the youth foster carers and £600m for establishing new children’s homes.
