Gone-Too-Far-2026-Risks-of-Being-Moved-report.pdf
Become’s new report examines how distance placements harm care-experienced girls.
Details
It records that 18,000 children in care, around one in five, are placed outside their local area, some more than 500 miles away, with numbers rising year on year. Shortages of safe, suitable homes mean children have little or no choice about where they live and are moved repeatedly, often without warning. Placement decisions are driven by budgets rather than children’s best interests.
Drawing on interviews with eight young women, the report finds that distance moves disrupt education, breaks relationships, including with siblings, damages mental health and leave girls isolated and exposed to exploitation and harm. Critically, distance does not guarantee safety from ongoing exploitation and was sometimes felt to be a cause of it.
Commentary
The report is useful evidence when the welfare of a child is engaged. In bail applications and remand submissions, it may support arguments that an out-of-area placement is itself a source of risk, instability and offending behaviour, and that a proposed local package may better address safeguarding concerns. In sentencing, it assists in framing exploitation, isolation and repeated unplanned moves as mitigation, and in resisting inferences drawn from missing episodes or non-compliance. Its recommendations on local authority action plans, enhanced contact and placement sufficiency also provide a benchmark for challenging inadequate care planning.