Stats moving in wrong direction
New government data shows that the number of children in care being moved far away from their local area has gone up by 62% in the last decade
New data released by the Department for Education (DfE) today shows a continued and significant rise in the numbers of children in care being moved more than 20 miles from their local area and sent to live somewhere they don’t know, often alone and without warning.
Despite promises from the Government to reform children’s social care, it’s clear these statistics are moving in the wrong direction and with a 23% rise of children coming into care since 2013, urgent action is needed to turn this around.
Government figures show that, as at 31 March 2023:
17,360
children in care were moved 20+ miles away from home. That’s over 21% of all children in care.
62%
the rate children in care being moved 20+ miles away has gone UP by since 2013.
23%
the rate that the overall number of children in care has gone up by; so 20+ mile moves have increased much faster.
It doesn't have to be this way
We need the Government to take urgent action. We are calling for:
- A national commitment that children in care should only be moved miles from home when this is in their best interests.
- The development and publication of national and local strategies to increase the supply of appropriate local options, so that children don’t have to be moved miles from their support networks.
- Data collection to record how many children in care are living more than 20 miles away from home due to a lack of appropriate care options in their local area that are able to meet their best interests.
Keep scrolling to help us apply pressure and encourage your MP to support the #GoneTooFar campaign.
NEW FILM: Public support for the #GoneTooFar campaign
Our #GoneTooFar campaign group is powered by young people with lived experience of being moved far away while in care.
Together, we created a game to play with the general public to find out how far they’d move and all the people, home comforts, and conveniences they’d need to go with them…
Raise this with your MP today
Change is within reach if the Government take action. As your elected official, it's your MP's job to listen and represent you in Parliament.
By tweeting, emailing or writing to them today, you can encourage your MP to support our #GoneTooFar campaign and keep children in care close to the people and places that matter to them. And it only takes a few minutes with our templates below.
Learn more about our #GoneTooFar campaign
Read our original research and report, launched in April 2023, hear from young people with lived experience of being moved far away, and see how the media has supported our campaign.
Cathy Jermey says:
December 20, 2023 at 11:37 am
This is not acceptable and we all need to do more for our care experienced community.