‘Nowhere else is available’: how vulnerable children end up in illegal care homes

Harrowing court video hearings reveal plight of those unable to find a place in secure, registered accommodation

The judge sitting in the family division of the high court can barely hide his concern and frustration as he listens to a barrister acting for Kent county council update him about the plight of a vulnerable 14-year-old girl in an unregistered, illegal children’s home run by a private company.

She is at risk of child sexual exploitation. In the past, she has run away, taken hard drugs and been sexually assaulted. But the police warned that Jasmine (not her real name) is being “emotionally abused” by staff in the home, where she has been living for just over a month. Police officers, who visited Jasmine, witnessed a staff member shouting at her after she brushed past.

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