Tell your MP: Every child in care deserves a loving home

Alex*, 24.  

"When you’re taken into care, it's because the authorities say you need a better home. You don’t really get a choice. You have to accept what they’re promising. But too often, you don’t get what’s promised. You never get a home you truly love, or feel at home in.

You get let down, or moved around, or split up from brothers and sisters. You end up with carers you don’t get on with. You don't get a chance to say how you feel – or if you do, you feel like no one’s listening.

I had lots of different homes in care. With foster carers, in children’s homes, on my own, and in big group homes. There were always problems in the end, and I was moved again and again. I missed out on growing up with my sisters. I missed chances to get support for my additional needs.

Bad things happened in my life before I went into care. I’m still recovering from them. But I’m also still recovering from my time in care. Does that seem right?" 
*Name changed to protect identity
 

A shortage of good, loving homes means that many children have a poor experience of being care.

• Not all foster or residential homes provide the high quality care that a child deserves.
• Due to a shortage of homes, children are sometimes placed in homes that aren’t right for them and can’t meet their individual needs. 
• Children often have to move home several times as circumstances change, and this instability can have a huge impact. 
• Losing contact with their wider family, friends and wider community is common. Many children are even split up from brothers and sisters. 
• Children can struggle to get the support they need from school, health and other services. This can be made worse if they have to move around often.  
• A child in care will have to interact with lots of professionals – and they can change all the time. This means children are always having to explain themselves to new people and build new relationships.

We’re asking for UK governments to take immediate action on children’s social care:

• Focus on providing high-quality homes for children – not simply on increasing the number of 'placements', or plugging gaps.
• Invest in recruiting, training and supporting brilliant carers and staff – so that everyone looking after children can provide the best possible care.
• Listen to the experiences of care-experienced children and young people, and include them in decision making.
• Make faster progress on reform. Children in care can't afford to wait years for change to happen.