“A moral failure”: Care system failing thousands of vulnerable children

Overstretched children's social care services, in the face of rising need, has led to an ‘alarming’ number of children leaving the care system and becoming homeless, not in employment or not in education, MPs have said in a new report.

A cross-party inquiry from the Education Committee, led by Helen Hayes MP (pictured), finds that local authority services—strained by years of rising demand, poverty, and cuts to early intervention—are unable to provide consistent and effective support.

With more than 83,000 children in care across England in 2024—up 20% from 2014—the report paints a stark picture of what happens when these children leave the system: 39% of care leavers aged 19–21 are not in education, employment or training, and one in three becomes homeless within two years. Current research also suggests almost a quarter (24%) of the prison population have spent time in care.

Calling the situation a “moral failure,” Hayes said, “It is unacceptable that thousands of young people leaving care are being left to face homelessness, unemployment or barriers to education.”

“The system that should be supporting our most vulnerable children is far too often abandoning them at a critical moment in their lives. Urgent action is needed to fix this broken system and give all of our young people the futures they deserve.

"Throughout this inquiry we heard that a false economy of cuts over the past decade has led to postcode lotteries in provision across different areas of the country, and has instead caused some parts of the system to become more expensive.”

The report identifies recruitment and retention of social workers as a major barrier to progress. The Committee heard that many social workers are currently handling unmanageable caseloads, and high turnover is undermining relationships with children and families. MPs are now calling on the Department for Education to develop a comprehensive workforce strategy for children’s social care, including measures such as increased pay, bursaries for training, and better public awareness of the profession.

MPs also say the Government must develop a National Care Offer to provide a consistent standard of financial and housing support for care leavers offered by local authorities, as well as an exemption for care leavers from plans to reduce Universal Credit.

“A National Care Offer of support for care leavers would bring consistency across the country, so that care leavers receive a guaranteed level of support, rather than a cliff edge as they approach adulthood,” Hayes added.

A central theme of the report is the need to restore funding for early intervention. While local government spending on children’s social care has increased in recent years, much of this has been reactive rather than preventative. The Committee recommends that the Government direct the majority of new funding announced in the most recent Spending Review towards early intervention programmes, which can help prevent children from entering the care system in the first place and reduce long-term costs.

The report also urges the Government to bring kinship care—where children are looked after by extended family or close family friends—into line with foster care in terms of financial and practical support. Kinship care is often the most stable and beneficial arrangement for children, yet many carers currently receive inadequate assistance. The Department for Education should ensure that its kinship allowance pilot matches the support given to foster carers, and it should introduce legal entitlements to kinship leave.

To tackle the growing issue of out-of-area placements, which can cause severe disruption to children’s education, relationships, and wellbeing, the Committee recommends that the Department for Education publish a national sufficiency strategy. Local authorities should also be required to develop and publish their own plans to reduce the number of children placed far from home and to share best practices across regions.

The Committee also raises concerns about the quality of residential care, particularly for 16- and 17-year-olds. There have been troubling reports of children being placed in inappropriate settings such as barges and caravans, sometimes without basic support. While welcoming the Government’s efforts to improve regulation of supported accommodation, the report calls for the development of universal standards of care that apply to all residential settings.

Finally, the report highlights the challenges faced by disabled children and their families, many of whom struggle to access support that should be readily available.

Become, a charity representing children in care and care leavers, welcomed the report—in particular its highlighting of out-of-area placements.

"We warmly welcome this report and the committee's commitment to driving meaningful change,” Katherine Sacks-Jones, their CEO said.

"Keeping children close to the people and places that matter to them is essential to good care, as is ending the care cliff and the drop-in support when young people turn 18, sometimes younger. These are two key issues we've campaigned on, so we're pleased to see the focus and recommendations here to support that.

Dr Carol Homden, CEO of adoption and fostering charity Coram similarly praised the recommendations including a national sufficiency strategy, a national fostering strategy, more support for kinship carers and better mental health support for children in care

"This vital report highlights the urgent need to improve the continuum of care for our most vulnerable children across all aspects of fostering, adoption, kinship care, residential and supported accommodation so that we have the right homes and carers for children when they need them.

“It is crucial that care leavers have a consistent national offer that leaves no young person behind. We call upon Government to take immediate action to consider and address these well framed recommendations and achieve positive outcomes in children's lives."