What Price a Child's Future?

amanda0646

Sep 16

1 min read

What the current reform assumes, what the evidence shows, and what happens if it is wrong

First published: 16 September 2026

Children’s social care is changing again.

This paper follows my earlier critical narrative review, Before We Redefine Residential Child Care, and asks the question that comes next.

The current reform is built on a number of assumptions: that earlier help will reduce the number of children entering care, that more children can be supported within families, that fostering and kinship care can expand, and that residential care can become smaller and more specialised.

I do not question the importance of those ambitions.

I question whether the evidence supports what it is being asked to prove, whether the risks of changing several interconnected parts of the care system have been properly examined, and what happens to children if those assumptions prove wrong.

A government can change a policy.