Vulnerable children put in caravans and Airbnbs in 'stark failure of social care system' - report

Some susceptible children successful England person been housed successful "highly unsuitable" accommodation - including a caravan and an Airbnb - according to a caller report.

Dame Rachel de Souza, England's children's commissioner, said it was a "stark nonaccomplishment of the children's social care system" that immoderate nether deprivation of liberty orders (DoLs) were not housed successful due homes.

Under authorities guidance, children nether the High Court orders mostly necessitate precocious levels of attraction and supervision, and should truthful beryllium placed successful settings specified arsenic children's homes oregon attraction location services.

The commissioner said nevertheless that according to her research, immoderate children's basal rights were "too often being ignored successful a strategy that puts profit-making supra extortion and allows decisions to beryllium dictated by section resources".

In 1 instance, a teenage miss who suffered home maltreatment from her parents was fixed supervised situation placement successful a caravan. She was aboriginal housed successful a children's location 120 miles distant from her grandparent's home.

Dame Rachel besides noted an lawsuit wherever an autistic teen was placed by her section authorization successful an Airbnb nether supervision for 9 months.

That determination came aft unit to discharge her from the infirmary arsenic she did not conscionable the criteria to beryllium held nether the Mental Health Act.

While the "vast bulk of children taxable to deprivation of liberty orders are successful the attraction system" and are successful due settings, the commissioner said: "Many children unrecorded with these restrictions successful places that are highly unsuitable."

She added: "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."

Dame Rachel past said: "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."

Published today, the commission's study said the fig of children taxable to applications for DoLs has risen from 359 successful 2020/21 to 1,368 successful 2023.

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It recommended "far fewer" children should beryllium taxable to the orders, that those who are should ne'er beryllium placed successful an amerciable children's home, and that the instrumentality should beryllium changed to fto "children person a accidental successful the decisions affecting their lives".

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said successful a statement: "Children who person been deprived of their liberty are facing the astir heartbreaking experiences, with galore being re-traumatised 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."