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EveryChild welcomes report on looked-after children in England but warns against a return to children's homes

22 Apr 2009

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A UK parliamentary select committee has called for a radical overhaul of the care system in England. EveryChild welcomes the committee’s recommendations for looked-after children but also cautions that any move to increase the number of children’s homes would have dire consequences for children in care in England. The committee blames the poor experiences of many children in care on gaps in good quality foster care, lack of highly skilled social workers, children being moved from placements frequently and without notice, and the fact that many children are unable to form a key relationship with anyone because of high turnover of staff and foster carers. The report also highlights that for a very small minority of children residential care may be the best option.

Dr David Tolfree, Trustee of EveryChild said:

“In the aftermath of the tragic case of Baby P, we must be wary of a political knee-jerk reaction that could lead either to a reluctance to promote measured programmes of family support or to an expansion of residential care in England. We must not repeat the mistakes of the 1970s and 1980s where a disproportionate amount of resources was spent on children’s homes.

Furthermore, the application of simplistic solutions to a complex issue here in England would send out a disastrously misleading message to governments in the former Soviet Union. News of a renewed interest in residential care here could put the brakes on brave attempts in countries such as Georgia and Moldova to invest in family support services and foster care, and close their Soviet-era children’s homes.”