A Sunday slice of foster care life: 15 months or so ago, when the boys first came to live with us, they struggled being in crowded spaces. When we took them for their first ever haircut, they were very anxious. 🧵 The young barber sat down on the floor with them, outside his shop, and talked gently to them until they felt ready to go inside. His care put them at ease and they sat for him so he could cut their hair.

Private equity and offshore investors continue to extract millions of pounds from children’s homes and foster care, even as the cost of children’s social care pushes councils into bankruptcy. 🧵 Newly-published financial accounts for CareTech, the biggest private provider, reveal that it charged councils £575 million for care and education for vulnerable children and young people in ONE YEAR.

The care system for children and young people is in crisis. But private companies continue to earn millions of pounds from children in care and investors pocket funding that should be spent on families. Keys Group is the latest company to reveal another leap in profits. 🧵 Keys, owned by private equity, is responsible for the lives of more than `1,200 children and young people in care. Its latest accounts show that local authorities paid it almost £119 million for care and education last year. The accounts are here …te.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/106253…

Four more inadequate children’s homes flagged by Ofsted today in inspection reports. A disgrace.

New Ofsted report published today shows how the 'market' in children's homes and foster care has failed vulnerable children: Local authorities having to find homes for children at the ‘last minute’
gov.uk/government/new… Local councils have few children's homes (and some have none at all). They mostly rely on private companies, providing homes for profit. These are the consequences.

New data on children in care has been published by @educationgovuk today. You can read it here: …e-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistic…
Some key numbers follow 🧵 Factors to bear in mind:
- The pandemic weighs heavily on comparisons for the previous year.
- The number of unaccompanied asylum seeking children is up 10% for the year prior to the pandemic.
- Staying Put is giving more young people a chance to stay in care for longer.

The Office for Students has published new data on outcomes, including those with care experience. @HoyleTime has a great🧵on this but the headline data is: @HoyleTime Data on household residual income is relevant in this context: data says the more money you have the better you do (unsurprisingly)

The safeguarding practice review into the death of 20-month-old Asiah Kudi in Brighton has been published today.

bhscp.org.uk/safeguarding-r… Asiah was left alone for six days while her mother partied in London and Coventry.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…

This children's home run by Bradford Council has been judged inadequate by Ofsted, with serious and widespread failure that put children at risk.

reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/2/SC0… The home is registered to provide care for up to
six children with physical or learning disabilities. Ofsted inspectors raised a number of concerns, including staff shortages and medication errors.

Another day, another failing children's home. This one is in St Helens and is run by the private company PIC Children’s Services Limited reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/2/SC0… Ofsted has also raised concerns about this children's home in Leeds run by Nestlings Care files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/501990…

People who profit from private children’s homes keep claiming that they are cheaper than council-run homes. This needs to be challenged. Here are some reasons why 🧵 1.Council-run children’s homes are generally better staffed, with higher rates of pay and a full range of benefits (sick leave, holidays, pensions). This is something to be celebrated.

Serious and widespread failures have been identified at this children's home in Southend, only weeks after it was registered by the private company New Path Residential Ltd.
reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/2/268… It is clear from the report that this home was failing from the moment it opened, putting children in care at risk.

Major scandal: Ofsted asks staff from private care firms to inspect children’s homes.

theguardian.com/society/2022/o… Private equity is given official seal of approval and a major role in the regulation and oversight of the care system.

I keep hearing about Swanton Community in the context of the care of vulnerable young people. So, I did a bit of digging and found an egregious example of how investors are exploiting the care system to make millions. A 🧵 Swanton ‘Community’ sounds very touch feely and its website has a warm, family feel swantoncare.com/about-us/

The (Independent) Children's Homes Association is no different to the Taxpayers' Alliance and the Institute of Economic Affairs...pro business, pro profit, against regulation and against the public sector.

https://twitter.com/CawsonSarah/status/1579078489612857345

Defending the indefensible, with a tiny number of LA and not for profit members whose only purpose is to greenwash an organisation whose self serving interests harm children and young people in care.

More council children's homes needed, says ex-Children's Commissioner @annelongfield

bbc.com/news/uk-englan… The 12 biggest private children's home providers in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, who together run more than 30 homes, earned £38m in post-tax profits in the latest reporting period - a rise of a third from the previous financial year, BBC analysis shows.

CareTech, one of the biggest private providers of children's homes and foster care, is quitting the stock market today, taken over by vulture capitalists in a deal worth £870 million. This is (more) bad news for children in care. A 🧵

londonstockexchange.com/news-article/C… It was bad enough that a children's home provider had shares listed on the stock market. But at least Stock Exchange rules imposed a degree of accountability and transparency, which is now ended.

👀Strive Services Ltd, a new company set up to provide homes for vulnerable young people, appears to be linked to directors of the disgraced Achieve Care Homes, who resigned after Ofsted shut down their children's home in Bolton.

…te.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/142642… In March Ofsted inspectors described conditions inside this children home as "squalid"

theguardian.com/society/2022/m…

Somerset County Council is to create 10 new children's homes so that children in its care are able to remain in their communities and close to loved ones.
But (as always...) it is more complicated than this...

somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/21587379.… Thecouncil is not going to run the homes itself but has outsourced them to a company, Homes2Inspire, under a £70 million, 10-year contract.

Local councils say they have to outsource the care of vulnerable children because they don't have in-house expertise. So let's look at what is happening at this outsourced children's home in Bury, run by 4 Pure Heart Ltd, where Ofsted has flagged serious and widespread failures. This home was only registered in January yet already it is dangerously short staffed and covered by people with limited experience and lacking in the necessary skills.

Bear Care Services, which provided the caravan as a temporary home for a 12-year-old in care, is worth a close look.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-621275… It was incorporated 18 months ago and is run by Ian McCarter and Lou McCarter …te.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/124798…