Charities launch Care Inquiry
An inquiry into how to provide stable and permanent homes for children who cannot live with their birth parents has been launched by eight leading charities today.
The Care Inquiry charities are Adoption UK, British Association of Adoption and Fostering, Family Rights Group, the Fostering Network, Research into Practice, TACT, The Together Trust and The Who Cares? Trust and they have collaborated to look at how vulnerable young people in care can best be supported.
There are 90,000 children involved in the care system every year and Nice guidance suggests that 60% of Looked After Young People have emotional and mental health problems.
Many children in the care system return home or live with a member of their wider family but those who cannot do this are fostered, adopted or live in a children’s home.
A letter from the charities to the prime minister says that different options – including special guardianship, being cared for by family and friends or fostering and adoption – will be right for different children.
“The care system must work to improve the lives of all children who come into contact with it. The crucial thing – for each and every child – is to find a home which provides them with stability, helps them develop a strong sense of identity and gives them a feeling of belonging,” the letter adds.
The Inquiry, which is supported by the Nuffield Foundation, aims to collect and explore the evidence on what actually works for children, in order to make recommendations to central and local government about how to succeed in helping Looked After Children achieve long-term stability and security.
YoungMinds is running two projects on the mental health needs of Looked After Young People. Find out more here.
For more on the Care Inquiry visit the website.
