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'Radical overhaul' of care system needed, says select committee
9 June 2009
The state is failing to adequately protect children in care from sexual exploitation, homelessness and falling into crime, according to the most recent select committee report on children in care published in April.
The report from the children, schools and families committee says a radical overhaul of the system is needed. It welcomed the improvements brought in by the government's Care Matters programme, which became law in November 2008, but believes that 'we have to go further and faster and we have to be more radical in our approach.'
'The system is still failing too many children,' said Labour MP Barry Sheerman, the committee's chair. 'The outcomes for children in care are not what any parent would want in terms of levels of educational attainment, likelihood of getting into criminal behaviour, going to prison. We are judged by how we treat the most vulnerable. These children should have the highest priority in any decent civilisation.'
The report revealed evidence of organised, targeted exploitation of girls in residential homes and hostels and concluded that the vulnerability of young people leaving care is still 'a matter of great concern'.
The poor reputation of the care system may even be contributing to children being left in dangerous and emotionally damaging situations at home, the report warned, saying that 'the care system's poor reputation may contribute to a reluctance to take children into care where necessary'.
It also echoed concerns often voiced by The Who Cares? Trust that the care system can sometimes compound rather than remedy the damaging effects of pre-care life. 'Far from compensating for their often extremely difficult pre-care experiences, certain features of the care system itself make it harder for young people to succeed,' the report said.
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