The Guardian view on looked-after children: time to join the dots | Editorial

The care review promised in the Conservatives’ manifesto should start as soon as possible, and peer into all the troubling gaps

The number of children in care in England is at a 10-year high: there were 78,150 at the last count. How they are looked after and educated should be a matter of general public concern. There are few more serious responsibilities for a government than that of corporate parent – particularly when such an arrangement is reached because a child or young person is particularly vulnerable, or has previously been let down.

Yet the mounting pile of evidence that the system is flawed has just increased again, with the addition of the criticisms of aspects of the children’s social care sector contained in Ofsted’s annual report. Problems with England’s 14 secure children’s homes, unlicensed “semi-independent” provision for over-16s, and three secure training centres for young offenders, must urgently be addressed.

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2usTdYq