Most residential children's social care services in England, including children's homes, are operated by for-profit companies, but the implications of this development are not well understood. This paper aims to address this gap by undertaking the first longitudinal and comprehensive evaluation of the associations between for-profit outsourcing and quality of service provision among English local authorities and children's homes.

More than 20 councils in England and Wales have paid the equivalent of £1m a year or more to place a single child in a private children’s home as the cost of specialised care soars, data released to the Guardian shows.

BBC Wales Investigates journalist Michael Sheen interviews children who have experience with the care systems in Wales and England for his hour-long documentary 'Lifting the lid on the care system' which was filmed over three years.

Regulations set conditions on authorities wishing to place children in Scotland from elsewhere in the UK, but campaigners warn they are providing cover for lack of investment in England

This study aimed to synthesize existing qualitative UK evidence on the known safeguarding risks and poorer outcomes for disabled children and young people who are at risk of, or who have experienced abuse. This study focused on research, which had sought the views of disabled children and young people, parents/carers and practitioners.

This webinar focused on the themes and recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s Day of General Discussion (DGD) about the rights of children and young people in alternative care and the implications for children and adolescents in Scotland.

Join us on 22 June when we will be holding a focused look at the themes and recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s Day of Discussion about the rights of children and young people in need of care and protection, with our guest speakers including Ann Skelton, Member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, and Bruce Adamson, Scotland’s Children’s Commissioner for Children and Young People.

Children in care have reported being groomed and sexually assaulted in homes run by a firm making huge profits. Multiple employees of Calcot Services for Children say vulnerable young people were failed.

Children in care face adverse health outcomes throughout their life course compared with their peers. In England, over the past decade, the stark rise in the number of cared-for children has coincided with rising child poverty, a key risk factor for children entering care. The authors aimed to assess the contribution of recent trends in child poverty to trends in care entry.

The UK Home Office has been accused of attempting to deport unaccompanied 16-year-olds to Rwanda in the first wave of asylum seekers to be sent to east Africa later this month. Charities have identified what they describe as a “worrying pattern” of children being classed as adults by Home Office age assessments, raising fears they could be among those deported 4,500 miles to Rwanda.