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A place to call home, for every child in care

Every 15 minutes

a child goes into care in the UK

104,680 children

are in the care system across the UK

Help give children in care what every child needs

Because they’re a child, like any other. A child with a favourite TV show. A favourite food. A child that deserves to feel safe and loved, in a place they can call home.

That’s why we’re launching A Place to Call Home, a campaign calling on UK governments to take immediate action on children's social care, so children in care get the high-quality homes, love, and support they need to thrive.

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Children in care deserve a place to call home
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What needs to change for children in care?

A shortage of good, loving homes means that many children have a poor experience of being in care. Not all foster or residential homes provide the high-quality care that a child deserves, or are able to meet that child's individual needs.

Children often have to move home several times as their circumstances change, and are moved to homes far from their families. They can struggle to get the support they need from school, health and other services, and they can feel ignored by professionals when they speak up.

All four UK governments have recognised these problems, carried our reviews, and are starting to act. But they're not moving fast enough to make the vital changes needed to their care systems.

We're asking for UK governments to take immediate action on children's social care:

Young boy moving into care home
  1. Focus on providing high-quality homes for children: the right homes, in the right places, so that every child can grow up in a home that meets their needs.
  2. Invest in recruiting, training, and supporting brilliant carers and staff – so that everyone looking after children can provide the best possible care.
Young boy with carer

3. Listen to the experiences of care-experienced children and young people, and include them in decision making.

4. Make faster progress on reform: children in care can't afford to wait years for change to happen.

Read our A Place to Call Home policy reports
Read the report

Ways to get involved

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Add your name to the campaign
Help children in care get the high-quality homes they need to thrive.
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Make a donation
We support over 50,000 children and young people in, or with experience of, the care system every year. Your donation could help one of our 426 services supporting children and young people.
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Learn about the experience of children in care
Learn why a child might enter the care system, and what they might experience.
Learn more

Real-life stories from care-experienced young people

Young person in care studying with their carer
Children in care deserve a place to call home
Agree? Add your name to the campaign.
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