Here’s an alarming story with deeply biased reporting from the BBC. It reports that the number of looked-after children reaches a record high, with 90 taken into care every day last year.
Source: Ninety children taken into care each day, figures show – BBC News
Reading the story quickly, it’s easy to come away with the conclusion that the negative trend is because of the government’s austerity policies. It ignores that some local authorities have been more effective than other in introducing effective cost reductions, rather than cuts to quality and service.
There is also room for concern about the concistency of quality of service from care workers. There’s a worrying public sector trend of laying off the most experienced staff who also happen to be the most expensive. Government bean-counters will look to the cost per employee but are oblivious to the quality of the deliverable.
Then there’s context. Why have the numbers deteriorated? Is it to do with the lifestyles of their parents and guardians?
It’s a shame that the BBC, once the gold-standard is now so biased.
Thoughts?
Dr Alf's Blog 
It is true in the USA that social workers derive an income per child and foster parents receive money each month – so many have a financial incentive to take children out of their homes. It’s all very frightening here.