The government has published its strategic framework for the Major Conditions Strategy. We are pleased to see an emphasis on prevention and early intervention for young people’s mental health, as well as recognition of the impact of being a young carer. We urge the government to ensure the mental health and wellbeing needs of children and young people, especially adolescents, are equally considered alongside that of adults in the upcoming strategy. The government must not lose sight of the urgency at which action is needed to stop children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing from further declining.

Author: Marieke Widmann, Policy & Practice Advisor, The Children’s Society Under the current proposals of the new Illegal Migration Bill, the government will reintroduce the use of child detention for immigration purposes — reversing the changes that they previously enshrined in law. Having supported children and families in detention centres…

Digital what? What does digital capability mean to you in your organisation? Is it a baseline of foundational skills that are available to all people? Is it workplace specific tasks and systems, and why does it matter? These are some questions we were asking when we first began considering digital capabilities at…

Launching our report, ‘Growing Digital’ , sharing our work and learning from the National Lottery Community Fund’s ‘Digital Fund’ programme. This is the first blog in a series that aims to reflect on our celebrations and learnings over the 3 years of our Digital Fund journey. Authors — Lucy Wappett…

Last month, the government published its response to a list of recommendations made in the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care and two other reviews. The reviews explore broadly experiences of children, carers and practitioners in the social care system. …

2021 census data has revealed new information about age, sex, and levels of deprivation amongst unpaid carers across the UK. Our Interim Director of National Programmes and Innovation, Helen Leadbitter, responded to the data. ‘There are now nearly 140,000 young carers, aged from 5–17 years, across England and Wales, but…

In addition to our joint statement with NSPCC, Action for Children, Barnardos, and National Children’s Bureau, The Children’s Society has issued an individual response. Our CEO, Mark Russell, said: ‘This strategy clearly sets out a bold, new direction for children’s social care, but it also highlights the sheer scale of…

Joint statement in response to the Government’s announcement on children’s social care by NSPCC, Action for Children, Barnardos, National Children’s Bureau and The Children’s Society. ‘Too many children are being failed by the children’s social care system. Too often young people are not kept safe from harm and families are…

Young people, especially girls, are facing a tsunami of sexual crime and injustice. For the last 15 months, with the support of The Children’s Society, (through the ‘Support Rethought’ pilot programme funded by the Home Office delivering brief interventions to young people who have experienced sexual abuse), the Voice as…