Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England has published her second annual Stability Index, which tracks the experiences of children in care across England. The report found that thousands of vulnerable children are ‘pinging’ around the system and that older children, especially those entering care between the ages of 12 and 15 were most at risk of instability.
- Almost 2,400 children had changed home, school and social worker over the last 12 months.
- Social worker changes are significantly more common than the other two types of changes – nearly 19,000 children experienced two or more social worker changes in 2016/17.
- Over a two year period over 3,000 children had to move home four or five times.
- Around 4,300 children in care moved school in the middle of the year. 400 children who moved school missed a whole term.
- At a national level, rates of instability are broadly unchanged from 2015/16.
Further information and a link to download the Stability Index 2018 overview and technical report are on the Children’s Commissioner website.