“Out of Harm’s Way, the first of the commission’s series of reports into teenagers at risk, calls for a ban on the use of unregulated accommodation for under-18s in care; the re-establishment of the government’s defunct serious violence taskforce; a new “teenager in need’ support form; and long-term funding for violence reduction units and young adder (addiction, diversion, disruption, enforcement, recovery) programmes to reduce the numbers of teenagers at risk of exploitation.

The report shows how an overreliance on a limited number of residential places where demand significantly outstrips supply, inadequate early identification of those children at risk of exploitation, cuts to funding for early intervention programmes, outdated fostering models, a broken children’s home “market” and the frequent criminalisation of children in the care system is allowing too many children in care to fall into danger.”

Read the report in full...

Read the article in full at Guardian source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/dec/29/children-social-care-system-unfit-purpose-england?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other