World News
Children in English care system self-harm to maintain placement safety, research shows
A parliamentary report separately warns that the children's social care accommodation model is broken, highlighting a "cliff edge" of support at age 18.
The short version
- Research by psychotherapist Abi Booth indicates some highly vulnerable children in England's care system are deliberately self-harming or attempting suicide to avoid losing care placement support.
- Children perceive severe self-harm as the only way to remain in therapeutic facilities rather than facing a dramatic drop in support when they turn 18.
- A UK parliamentary committee report has concurrently declared the children's social care accommodation model broken, citing a severe lack of capacity and inadequate placements.
Key facts
- Psychotherapist Abi Booth's research involving 12 children found that vulnerable youths are intentionally self-harming to avoid losing therapeutic care placement support when they turn 18 or improve mentally.[The Guardian]
- Booth stated that high-risk children are treated as profitable commodities by private care companies, which can charge financially strained local authorities £20,000 or more per week per child.[The Guardian]
- A government review of the deaths of 112 care leavers in England aged 18 to 24 in 2025 identified a significant drop-off in available support upon turning 18.[The Guardian]
- Parliament's joint committee on human rights released a report calling the accommodation model broken and demanding an urgent end to the use of unregulated spaces.[The Guardian]
- The Department for Education reported it is investing £25 million to help care leavers access supported housing and is actively cracking down on unregistered children's homes.[The Guardian]
What remains uncertain
- While Booth fears the number of children deliberately self-harming to stay in care is growing, the precise scope across the wider population of 84,000 children looked after by local authorities remains undetermined.[The Guardian]
Sources
- Vulnerable children deliberately self-harming to stay in care, research findsThe Guardian - World