Vulnerable children put in caravans and Airbnbs

The placing of susceptible young radical successful a caravan and an Airbnb has been labelled a ‘stark failure.’

Many children who are taxable to tribunal orders from the High Court depriving them of their liberty are surviving successful ‘highly unsuitable’ accommodation, the Children’s Commissioner has warned.

While astir children who are nether deprivation of liberty orders (DoLs) are successful due housing, galore could beryllium falling done the cracks.

Now Dame Rachel de Souza, England’s Children’s Commissioner, has raised the alarm aft publishing a study connected children’s rights and wellbeing.

She said her probe suggests that immoderate children’s basal rights to information and happiness are ‘too often being ignored successful a strategy that puts profit-making supra extortion and allows decisions to beryllium dictated by section resources.’

Dame Rachel highlighted the experiences of immoderate of the children taxable to DoLs.

The fig of applications for DoLs has raised from 359 successful 2020/21 to 1,368 successful 2023, according to the commission.

Girl placed successful a caravan aft ‘pressure’ to discharge her from infirmary

Her report, published today, told of an autistic teen who was placed by her section authorization successful an Airbnb nether supervision for 9 months pursuing unit to discharge her from infirmary arsenic she did not conscionable the criteria to beryllium held nether the Mental Health Act.

Another teenage miss who had suffered parental home unit and neglect was fixed a supervised situation placement successful a caravan aft a enactment successful foster attraction and a children’s home.

Later, she was housed successful a children’s location 120 miles from her grandparents.

Illegal children’s homes

Dame Rachel said specified children ‘exist wrong a wellness and societal attraction strategy which is successful urgent request of concern and reform, and addressing their needs should signifier an integral portion of the wider plans for children’s societal attraction going forwards.’

She said: ‘The immense bulk of children taxable to deprivation of liberty orders are successful the attraction system.

‘Some are surviving successful specializer therapeutic children’s homes oregon settings that person been created specifically for them.

‘However, galore children unrecorded with these restrictions successful places that are highly unsuitable, including amerciable children’s homes, Airbnbs oregon connected infirmary wards portion awaiting discharge.

‘Far from providing the situation they request to assistance them with the behaviours that person caused concern, this leads to children feeling unsafe and uncared for, further adding to their trauma.’

Her study recommended that ‘far fewer’ children should beryllium taxable to DoLs.

And those who are should ne'er beryllium placed successful an amerciable children’s home, she said.

The commissioner called for a strengthening of the instrumentality successful this country to springiness clarity and transparency connected decision-making; for children to person a stronger dependable successful the process; and oversight from a justice to guarantee section authorization decisions are reviewed each 3 months.

Dame Rachel besides called for ‘radical concern successful creating caller and harmless places for children to live” and an extremity to ‘profiteering successful children’s societal care.’

She said: ‘As Children’s Commissioner I privation each kid to turn up safe, happy, steadfast and engaged successful their communities and successful their education.

‘For children nether deprivation of liberty orders, these basal rights are excessively often being ignored successful a strategy that puts profit-making supra extortion and allows decisions to beryllium dictated by section resources.

‘Depriving a kid of their liberty is 1 of the astir important interventions the authorities tin marque successful a child’s life.

‘My caller study tells these children’s stories, revealing a stark nonaccomplishment of the children’s societal attraction system.

‘They are enduring things nary kid should ever person to: contained, often successful isolation, successful amerciable children’s homes without the accidental for their voices to beryllium heard.

‘The children surviving successful the attraction strategy contiguous request urgent and bold alteration – nary much strategies, nary much debates.

‘We request to fortify the instrumentality truthful that children person a accidental successful the decisions affecting their lives, and extremist concern successful caller and harmless places for them to live.’

How has the authorities responded?

The Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson responded to the commissioner’s criticism.

She said: ‘Children who person been deprived of their liberty are facing the astir heartbreaking experiences, with galore being retraumatised by a strategy that can’t conscionable their needs.

‘That is wherefore contiguous I volition corroborate plans to interruption down the barriers to accidental that they are facing, including by processing caller community-based proviso to conscionable their needs to springiness children the champion beingness chances.

‘Our reforms volition spell adjacent further to springiness susceptible children the champion beingness chances by lifting the curtain connected attraction providers profiteering disconnected of susceptible children, tackling unregistered placements and shifting the absorption backmost to earlier involution to assistance children execute and thrive.’

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