Ofsted: Audit of children in care needed
Ofsted has urged a proper national audit of the needs of children in care.
In research into why do children go into children’s homes, Ofsted says that in order to understand sufficiency properly, there is a need to better understand the extent of the needs of children in care, and better understand the [...]
Education secretary urged to protect children from exploitation
The Secretary of State for Education has been urged by a coalition of 12 children’s charities led by Just for Kids Law to introduce guidance on exclusions and behaviour in a bid to protect vulnerable children facing school exclusion from child criminal exploitation.
The children’s charities including NSPCC, The Children’s Society, and Barnardo’s, [...]
Third of children worry about finances as cost of living crisis deepens
Almost half of children from families with low incomes worry about their children’s finances, research has revealed.
Action for Children found that almost a third of children (30%) worrying about their family having enough money to live comfortably as the cost of living crisis deepens and this figure raises to 47% for children [...]
Children in receipt of free school meals twice as likely to be absent during pandemic
The absence rates of children in receipt of free school meals was more than double that of children who were not eligible in 2020-2021, Department for Education statistics have revealed.
The overall absence rate for pupils eligible for free school meals was 7.8% across the full year, more than double the rate for [...]
Surge of young people could be drawn into youth justice system following pandemic
There is a significant risk of a surge in the number of children drawn into the youth justice system following the pandemic, a report by the Alliance for Youth Justice has found.
The briefing finds:
Exacerbated vulnerabilities and inequalities: the impact of COVID-19 on children is devastating, as not only have pre-existing vulnerabilities been [...]
Status of foster care has to improve
All fostering services in the UK should implement a foster carers’ charter to improve the status of foster care, the Fostering Network has urged.
The charity’s latest report shows that foster carers are not treated with the respect and value their vital role warrants, and not given the support they need to help [...]
