#GoneTooFar 

Thousands of children in care have #GoneTooFar away from the people and places that matter to them.

All children need and deserve the same things to thrive: a loving home, a stable support network, and access to the community that helps them feel like they belong. But children in care rarely get this when they are moved far away from the people and places that matter to them when it’s not in their best interests.

There are currently almost 18,000 children living more than 20 miles away, with moves often happening without warning – and some children have been moved more than 500 miles. The number of children experiencing these far away moves is rising year on year.

We know this is having a harmful impact on children’s lives and their futures. Being moved far away can disrupt a child’s education, their relationships – including with brothers and sisters who might live tens of miles away, and impact their mental health. Young people we work with have told us it makes them feel lonely, isolated, and even more stigmatised, and that they have little or no choice in where they live.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We are campaigning with an amazing group of care-experienced young people to change this, who have highlighted how things can be different and what this will mean for children in care.

Watch this video below where our young campaigners asked the public how they would feel if they were suddenly moved far away from their support network. 

1. A national commitment to stop children being placed miles from their home area when it is not in their best interests.
2. The development and publication of national and local strategies to increase the provision of care placements closer to home, so that children don’t have to be moved miles from their support networks.
3. New data collection and reporting on the numbers of children who are inappropriately moved miles from home.
4. Increased accountability for national Government and local authorities.