This report assesses Scotland’s efforts to fulfil The Promise—a national commitment made in 2020 to overhaul the country’s care system so children and young people “grow up loved, safe and respected.” It identifies significant persistent challenges in three key areas: governance and accountability, data and measurement, and resources and investment.

This report from the UK Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, reviews progress and challenges in children’s social care since she began her term in 2021. It highlights persistent failures to uphold children’s rights and presents a vision for transformative reform centered on those rights.

The article argues that the system of children’s residential care in the UK is failing to meet the needs of young people, pointing to persistent evidence that many children do worse in residential homes than in alternative arrangements.

This report examines the challenges faced by local authorities in providing cost-effective, high-quality residential care for looked-after children in England, where numbers have risen to 83,630 as of March 2024.

This BBC article covers a National Audit Office (NAO) report showing that the cost of residential care for vulnerable children in England has nearly doubled in five years to £3.1bn, with councils spending an average of £318,400 pe

Many children in kinship care face trauma, poverty, and strained family relationships, yet their carers often lack adequate support. This feasibility study of Family Solutions’ mediation and positive parenting intervention in South Hampshire, U.K. highlights promising approaches to strengthen communication, reduce conflict, and improve outcomes for kinship families.

This report exposes the severe harm temporary accommodation inflicts on children’s health, education, and wellbeing, with over 160,000 affected across England and rising numbers in London, particularly Southwark. It calls for urgent reforms—including stronger accountability, better inter-agency coordination, and dedicated support roles—to protect children’s rights and prevent lasting damage.

This article explores how a new initiative launched in July 2025 in Plymouth, U.K. aims to transition children in residential care into nurturing family-based environments like foster or kinship care.

Children's Homes Association warns 'inexperienced providers' have driven a 15% rise in number of registered homes from 2024-25 and that children are being placed in residential care inappropriately due to fostering shortage.

This report makes a series of recommendations on issues affecting all types of care, including foster care, adoption, kinship care, children’s homes, and support for disabled children in the UK.