Couldn’t Care Less

Our care system, despite good intentions, fails to support some of the most vulnerable people in society: children whom the state has decided cannot be brought up safely by their parents. One of the first lessons parents teach their children is to behave responsibly and to keep their promises. Yet the history of children taken into care in England is one of broken promises.

Despite over a decade of reforming legislation and initiatives, the treatment of many children in care and those leaving the care system deserves to be a source of national shame. These children too often go on to experience lives characterised by unemployment, homelessness, mental illness and addiction.