THE Government is being urged to introduce new laws to stop other local authorities “dumping problem children” in the county.
Kent County Council says it is being asked to do the impossible by having to take on hundreds of foster children from other areas without notice and when no school places are available.
KCC was ordered to pay £5,000 compensation this week for failing to provide an education for a foster child moved into the area from Essex.
But KCC leader Paul Carter says the fault lies with the Government for allowing better-funded counties to flood Kent with their emergency problem cases.
Cllr Carter said: “It should be illegal for other authorities to place foster care children in our care without first making sure there is adequate educational provision.”
There are currently 2,513 looked-after children in Kent, around half of which have come from 77 other councils, including better-funded London boroughs.
The county must provide and pay for the education of all foster children living or placed in its boundaries.
Last week, Local Government Ombudsman Tony Redmond found both Essex and Kent county councils guilty of maladministration for failing to properly educate a teenager with learning and behavioural difficulties.
Essex was criticised for moving the 16-year-old boy to a foster home in Kent before suitable education had been arranged for him, while KCC failed to educate him for six months.
Cllr Carter acknowledged: “We were a little be slow off the starting block in this case, and that is regrettable.
“But in my view we were asked to do the impossible.”
He added: “More and more challenging young people are coming into Kent’s communities and are exacerbating existing problems like crime and drugs.”
KCC said the county is an appealing option to social workers because of its high numbers of foster families and proximity to the capital.
Places at the county’s special schools are also in high demand.
North Thanet MP Roger Gale has 550 looked-after children in his constituency, 292 of which are from other authorities.
“We are being asked to wash other local authorities’ dirty linen,” he said.
“It isn’t the children’s fault - it is the fault of other local authorities and the Government. They have to stop dumping their problem children in Kent.”
A KCC spokesman said the council placed 120 foster children in other local authorities’ care last year, and the majority had been moved so they could live with family members or their permanent adoptive families.
POSTED: 15/12/2006 18:59:22
Bookmark with:
Email to a friend: