The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) has called for widespread reforms to the children’s social care system to improve the quality of support and life-long outcomes for people in care and care leavers. Around 400,000 children in England are in the social care system, with nearly 84,000 being looked after by local authorities.
In a wide-ranging report released yesterday (27th August), the JHCR called for more to be done to make the system easy to navigate for those in need of support, improve complaint mechanisms, and place a greater focus on the wider legacy of being in the care system.
The report follows an inquiry that examined many aspects of the children’s social care framework to investigate human rights issues affecting children and people in care, care leavers, and those receiving support of the children’s social care system.
“The problems with the children’s social care system identified by the Committee stand in the way of children and young people fully enjoying their rights to private and family life, to a safe home, to be free from discrimination and to have their voices heard”, the JHCR said in a statement accompanying the report.
The committee has called on the government to fully incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into English law to provide a clear overarching framework to safeguard the human rights of children in care.
“This would not only increase protections for children but enhance the accountability of public authorities tasked with supporting them”, it said.
Beyond concerns around the quality of immediate support provided to children, the report highlights the lifelong consequences for children who have engaged with the social care system.
“Care leavers have spoken of a ‘cliff edge’ as they reach adulthood and support networks disappear. The government should explore how it can provide support beyond current rigid age cut offs to ensure better outcomes for care leavers in areas including housing, health, education and employment”, the JHCR said
The report highlights the value of kinship care and calls on the government to provide greater support to keep children in family networks. “The Kinship Allowance Pilot scheme is a welcome step in the right direction but many families will remain unsupported while the programme is rolled out and tested”, the committee explained.
“The government should examine interim measures including financial allowance and access to parental leave while a long-term solution is developed.”
The report also found that care for disabled children is inconsistent and difficult to navigate. The Joint Committee calls for a single, comprehensive statutory guidance on children’s social care law to clarify the rights and responsibilities for disabled children, families and local authorities.
“The lack of national criteria for disabled children’s care has created a postcode lottery and should be rectified to ensure equality of access across the country”, it said.
“The accommodation model in children’s social care is broken. A lack of capacity has resulted in children being placed in expensive and wholly inadequate accommodation, often far from support networks.
“The government must end the use of unregulated spaces as a matter of urgency. Measures that should be explored include increasing efforts to drive up local authority supply of placements through adequate funding, carrying out tougher inspections, and tackling delays in the registration process for homes.”
Lord David Alton, chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, said: “We have a moral duty as a society to uphold the human rights of children and young people. The children’s social care system is there to be a crucial safety net to support the most vulnerable in society.
“The evidence we have heard from children in care, care leavers and experts in the field is that too often it is failing to prevent people falling through the gaps.
“The challenges for those in need of care do not stop when childhood ends – from the ‘cliff edge’ of support ending at the age of 18, to the increased likelihood of entering the criminal justice system to facing discrimination once they leave care.
“These are issues that government needs to do more to understand and take steps to address them.
“The continued difficulties for disabled children and their families navigating a complex system are profoundly troubling and wholly unacceptable. They need to be resolved.
“Clear guidelines need to be in place so that everyone knows what they are entitled to and what their responsibilities are. Consistent standards need to be in place to end the postcode lottery of support.
“The crisis in accommodation must also be dealt with once and for all. Local authorities with an urgent need to house vulnerable children should not be cash cows for accommodation providers.
“Unlicensed and illegal homes are a licence to print money – costing the tax payer £353 million a year. The government must work with local authorities to ensure the capacity is there for safe, secure and cost-effective spaces that meet local need.”
Report: Human Rights of Children in the Social Care System in England
