Safe, Secure and Thriving Campaign

Why did we choose this campaign?

We launched our Safe, Secure and Thriving Campaign to highlight the need for more robust post-placement support for children placed with carers overseas. Currently, we do not know the total number of children being placed overseas, which countries they are being placed in, what orders are being used or how many are successful or eventually breakdown.

There is a huge lack of large scale data about the outcomes of children placed overseas. Without it, we don’t know if support for overseas kinship placements is on par with what a child would experience in the UK. Location, borders or nationality should never be a barrier to adequate post-placement support.

Without proper governmental monitoring and guidance in place, children who are already vulnerable can be put at further risk of neglect, abuse, exploitation, or forced to take dangerous journeys back to the UK. Even in these cases, a local authority can refuse responsibility for a child because of the cross-border nature of their placement.

This campaign is calling for more accountability and transparency within the care system. We are working with the Department for Education, encouraging them to publish and analyse the numbers of children being placed across borders and ensure post-placement planning and support. At a local government level, CFAB are offering our services and raising awareness of their statutory duties to children placed across borders. International placements are hugely positive, often resulting in family reunification and preventing a child going into foster care – but the right support systems must be in place to prevent a placement breakdown that can leave a child even more vulnerable. We want to ensure that no child is put at risk, either here in the UK or overseas.

.