Children in care feel 'bought and sold' says Children's Commissioner

In her annual report Children's Commissioner for Wales, Professor Sally Holland, has called for the prevention of private companies profiting on children's home or foster care. Sally Holland has said the Welsh Government must "commit to taking action within the next year", and her findings have been accepted by the Welsh Government.

Of the 770 care home places in Wales, nearly 80% are run by private firms, profiting of the care system. However, care industry bodies argue their necessity as costs rise due to children entering the system with increasingly complex needs.

The Children's Commissioner believes that there should be moves "towards reducing and ultimately ending profit making in children's care services", and looked after young people agree. The report sees children stating thet are "actually really happy with [their] foster carers, but are really unhappy about the level of profit that goes to some distant company. it actually feels like [they're] bought and sold on a market"

You can find the full report here and the BBC's article here.