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How does the care system protect and support children’s relationships – support the new APPG inquiry

The Government has set out a welcome ambition to put lifelong loving relationships at the heart of the care system. However, too many children still experience instability in care, which can place strain on and sometimes damage the relationships that matter most to them. 

The inquiry will examine the impact of instability on children’s relationships, what can be done to prevent instability, and how children’s connections to the people and communities that matter to them can best be strengthened and maintained.

The APPG for Care-Experienced Children and Young People want care-experienced children and young people to be at the heart of the inquiry.

Relationships Inquiry: Young People’s Sessions

They are running ten online workshops to hear children and young people’s views in April and May – some of which will be attended by Parliamentarians from the APPG. Sessions will focus on different topics, with some specifically to hear from young people who share certain protected characteristics or experiences. Sessions will be:

* On Zoom, 6pm-7:30pm

* For children and young people who have spent time in care in England

* Focused on experiences whilst in care (not leaving care).

To find out about the sessions available and to register visit their website.

April Sessions
 

Tues 14 April – Being moved schools or disrupted education 

Thurs 16 April – Distance moves 

Tues 21 April – Children and young people who have been subject to immigration controls 

Thurs 23 April – Care-experienced children and young people from the LGBTQ+ community 

Tues 28 April – Sibling separation 

Thurs 30 April – Professional relationships 

May Sessions
 

Tues 5 May – Separation from community (cultural, language, religious or shared identity)

Thurs 7 May – Care-experienced children and young people from ethnic minority background 

Tues 12 May – Moving home and the impact on relationships

Thurs 14 May – Care-experienced children and young people with a disability, or health condition

Other ways to get involved

Run your own session:

Organisations can run sessions with care-experienced children and young people, using our tookit and feed insights into the inquiry. 

If you work with care-experienced children and young people and would like to run a session, then please contact appg@becomecharity.org.uk to get involved. 

Evidence survey:

Care-experienced adults, professionals and organisations can share views through our online survey. It collects insights about what works well and what needs to change to protect relationships. 

Survey link: APPG for Care-Experienced Children and Young People: Relationships Inquiry- Evidence Survey.

Deadline: Friday 19 June 2026.

 
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Regional Practice in Action Conference 2026 to be held at Oxford Brookes University

IRCT are pleased to support this multi-agency Conference highlighting the application of relational approaches in education, health, social care and criminal justice will take place on Thursday 25 June 2026 at Headington Campus, Oxford Brookes University.

Organised by the Mulberry Bush Organisation, keynote speakers will articulate the principles of relational practice and reflect upon the impact that connection, care and nurture can have on the lives of children and young people in a range of settings. A choice of workshops will be led by leading practitioners in the field of nurture, youth justice, residential care homes and hospital schools and a panel of experts will respond to questions from the floor.

Tickets available now and for more information view the event flyer here or click below to purchase your ticket via eventbrite.

Reserve your place
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National Trauma Strategy for England

Wales and Scotland have both developed National Trauma Strategies. How come there is not an equivalent strategy in place in England?

IRCT is collaborating with others to initiate a campaign for the development of a National Trauma Strategy for England

The Welsh Government has developed a Trauma Informed Wales Framework stating their reasons for doing so as follows.

During our lives we may all experience traumatic events. Most of us will develop ways to cope with such experiences and will continue our lives without any long-term consequences. We may receive help and support from our families, friends, or others in our community. We must never underestimate the importance and value of such social connections. For some of us, the magnitude of these experiences is such that we will need longer-term specialist help to recover from the impact of trauma. These experiences are likely to have an impact, not only on our physical and mental well-being, but also on our families and relationships with others. We know people affected by trauma may lose trust in individuals and services. However, we have seen examples of where adopting a trauma-informed approach can help to rebuild trust and relationships. This Framework is a significant step in raising awareness and understanding of how trauma can impact on everyone’s lives and provides a consistent way of helping people who have experienced trauma. It is a milestone in our journey towards becoming a trauma-informed nation. Importantly, the Framework helps us to understand the roles we have, and the difference we can make by simply being kinder, more compassionate and more understanding of each other.

The Welsh Government has made support for people’s mental well-being a priority. We recognise that good mental well-being is important to help people realise their potential and cope with life’s challenges. Responding in a trauma-informed manner can improve positive mental well-being. We want to see public services, third sector organisations, communities and individuals adopting this Framework and embedding it into practice, so that all interactions with each other and the people we serve, are based on a trauma-informed approach. Through collective action we know we can make a difference.

We strongly believe working in a trauma-informed way can transform lives, help those living with the impact of trauma to heal and, importantly, empower people to cope or seek help to cope with the many challenges life brings.

Sylvia Duncan and Jon Reid recently met with MP Jess Asato who is passionate about improving policy and practice to support the well-being and recovery of the most vulnerable members of our communities. She is Chair of the APPG for Children and IRCT is collaborating with this APPG on trauma related issues. Following our discussions with her, she has said she would be willing to raise a question in the House of Commons to the Minister for Children & Families to establish what plans the Government have to develop a National Trauma Strategy for England. IRCT are working with others to provide a briefing document to support this campaign.

We will provide updates as they become available.

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Find out how your Christmas shopping can raise funds for IRCT

Did you know that whenever you buy anything online – from your weekly shop to your annual holiday – you could be raising free donations for IRCT with easyfundraising?

There are over 8,000 retailers on board ready to make a donation – including eBay, Argos, John Lewis & Partners, ASOS, Booking.com and M&S – and it won’t cost you a penny extra to help us raise funds. All you need to do is:

1. Go to https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/irct/?searchSessionId=661d7049-d5b6-48da-88e4-519a276472bb and join for free.

2. Every time you shop online, go to easyfundraising first to find the site you want and start shopping.

3. After you’ve checked out, the retailer will make a donation to IRCT at no extra cost to you whatsoever! There are no catches or hidden charges and IRCT will be really grateful for your donations.

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IRCT Statement on the cuts to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund:

On the 1st April 2025 the Government finally announced that the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) would continue, but only for a further year. Children and families faced lengthy delays to therapy as applications would now be submitted on mass due to the late announcement, with history showing this significantly increases the average processing time of 25 working days to many months. However, despite the declaration that the ASGSF would continue the application process remained closed and no further communications were offered by the Government. 

Then on the 14th April 2025, the Government announced a number of significant and devastating cuts to the per child access limits within the ASGSF.  Prior to these cuts the therapy limit was £5,000 per child per year, with a separate £2,500 allowance available per child for specialist assessments. There was also scope for the ASGSF to match fund, with local authorities, the cost of packages up to a maximum £30,000 a year for the most vulnerable children with the highest level of need. There is now only £3,000 available per child per year, assessments where required must come out of this amount and match funding has been scrapped completely. This means children and families face cuts to the therapeutic packages available to them of between 40%-90%. It means, in some cases, a choice between assessing the needs of the child and having little to no funds left to treat them, or treating a child without assessing their needs – both of which are unethical. The government has made these cuts, it says, ‘to enable the fund to support as many families as possible’, and says that ‘this will still enable those eligible to access a significant package of therapeutic support tailored to their individual needs. ‘ However, given these cuts were made without consultation with the sector and without an evidence base it is difficult to see how this claim can be made. Of course, the IRCT wholeheartedly supports the idea that a greater number of children and families need access to this type of therapeutic intervention, but in order for this to happen in a meaningful way the overall amount of the ASGSF must be increased, otherwise we risk inadequately supporting everyone as the fund is spread too thinly to be effective for each individual child. Both the cuts and the fact that that the fund may not continue beyond March 2026 also impacts treatment options available to children, with many of the most effective trauma recovery treatments being long term by design involving highly specialist work with children.

The delays in announcing the overall fund continuation and the subsequent cuts have caused significant and harmful disruption to children’s therapy. The delays mean that many vulnerable children are now facing harmful gaps in therapy. Children and families have been left with no support and the therapeutic relationships that are so key to trauma recovery have been negatively impacted.  It is a hugely significant setback for many therapists working with children who have experienced developmental or complex trauma, many of whom also have FASD and other neurodevelopmental conditions. It is a potential disaster for adoptive and kinship parents and carers but most tragically for the children themselves. It goes against the very evidence base for trauma recovery. This should not have happened, and with appropriate planning and preparation this harm was entirely preventable.

Funding for a child should be focussed on ensuring that each and every child receives the right level of therapy at the right time. Only then will care experienced children be afforded every opportunity to recover from early life trauma. Capping funding at £3,000 per child per year does not allow children to receive the right level of therapy at the right time. Last year 46% of applications to the ASGSF were above the new £3,000 limit. Janet Daby stated that 2% of applications required match funding, she appeared to use this as a reason to scrap it. This 2% make up some of the most vulnerable and traumatised children in the country and this higher level of therapeutic intervention is essential. In fact, it is a lifeline. In some cases, it’s the difference between children remaining with their families or re-entering the care system. It can be immediately seen that half of all children accessing the fund will no longer be able to access what is needed for their trauma recovery.  The right level of therapy at the right time can be both transformative and life saving. 

The IRCT would argue that the 2% of children who were receiving match funding is not representative of the volume of children requiring that higher level of support. It is clear from the figures on care experienced children’s outcomes that a higher, not lower level of therapeutic input is needed to give them a better future. Care experienced children are more likely to face school exclusions and poorer educational and employment outcomes. They are four times more likely to end up with a criminal conviction by the age of 24 years old. They are at greater risk of mental health difficulties, at a higher risk of homelessness, a higher risk of early death and very sadly the list goes on. Figures in the last Adoption UK Barometer show a significant increase in the number of families in crisis, up from 30% to 38%. The numbers of children re-entering the care system have also increased. The cost to the humans involved is intolerable and should be taken with the utmost seriousness. The costs to the taxpayer of these cuts, in both the short and the long term are exorbitant.

The IRCT calls on the government to reinstate the previous levels of therapy and assessment funding within the ASGSF. This should be reinstated for a sufficient period to allow for an appropriate, transparent and thorough consultation process to be conducted with the sector. It must also allow for a period of planning and preparation so that future changes can be made without causing harm to children and families. 

The IRCT is deeply concerned by the impact that these cuts are having and will have on children who have suffered early life trauma. The IRCT implores the government to look at what children really need to recover from early life trauma. That and only that should be their guide. The government must think again and reverse these funding cuts. It is not only the right thing to do, it is also the fiscally sound thing to do for children who deserve the best care that the state can provide and the chance to heal. 

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Postponed BPF now scheduled for October at House of Lords

We are pleased to reannounce that our Best of Practice Forum that was due to be held at the start of the summer has now been rescheduled;

Creating an Inclusive Environment to Promote Recovery from Trauma: Relational Practice in Action

This conference is suitable for all practitioners working to help children and young people who have experienced complex trauma to recover so that they can have a better chance to take their place in their communities with confidence, make mutually satisfying relationships with others and fulfil their potential

What to expect from the event;
A range of speakers from a background in education, therapeutic residential care and foster care  will share their models of working. Please see eventbrite for more details and to reserve your place.

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IRCT response to the Department for Education Annual Exclusion statistics

Summary to the Department for Education Annual Exclusion Statistics

On the 18th July 2024 the Department for Education (DfE, 2024) released the Annual Exclusion statistics for the academic year 2022/2023. These statistics, collected in the school census data, present data on suspensions and permanent exclusions across state-funded schools.

The publication includes:

  • reasons schools report for suspending and permanently excluding pupils
  • suspensions and permanent exclusions by pupil characteristics
  • permanent exclusion independent review panels

It is of concern to note that these statistics reveal “the highest recorded annual number suspensions and permanent exclusions” (DfE, 2024).

According to the data released here

  • “There were 787,000 suspensions in the 2022/23 academic year
  • This is an increase from the previous year, when 578,300 suspensions occurred, and the highest recorded annual number of suspensions. This is the equivalent of 933 suspensions per 10,000 pupils.
  • There were 9,400 permanent exclusions in the 2022/23 academic year
  • This is an increase from 6,500 in 2021/22 and the highest recorded annual number of permanent exclusions. This is the equivalent of 11 permanent exclusions for every 10,000 pupils.
  • The most common reason for suspensions and permanent exclusions was persistent disruptive behaviour
  • Persistent disruptive behaviour accounted for 48% of all reasons given for suspension and for 39% of reasons for permanent exclusions. This is in line with previous years where this reason was the most commonly recorded”.

The Centre for Young Lives shared concerns on X here by recognising that suspensions increased by 36% and permanent exclusions increased by 44% on the previous year.

When the exclusion statistics are explored in relation to pupil characteristics, the data reveals that:

“Suspension and permanent exclusion rates continue to be higher for males, Free School Meal (FSM) eligible pupils and pupils with special educational needs”.

With regards to age:

“The suspensions and permanent exclusions rates tend to increase as age and year group increase, to a point. The highest rate for suspensions was age 13 and permanent exclusions age 14, before drops for both in higher ages”. 

With regards to ethnicity:

“Gypsy/Roma pupils and Traveller of Irish Heritage pupils continue to have the highest rates of suspensions and permanent exclusions”. 

The Education Policy Institutes provides a useful analysis of the exclusion statistics on X here which are, again, recognised as being the “highest levels since public records began”.

No More Exclusions state on X here that “from this data, we can see that the use of permanent exclusions and suspensions once again increased in the 2022/23 academic year. This fact alone, and the disproportionalities in exclusion use implicated within, raise urgent questions about the state of inclusive edu in England”.

Trauma Informed Schools here offered the following response on X to the rise in exclusions.

“Whilst the pandemic undoubtedly has had a pervasive impact on our young people and on the school workforce the trajectory was already rising before Covid. The response to increased levels of challenging behaviour has seen a rise in increasingly strict, high control regimes, this has not had the effect of reducing exclusions or indeed improving standards of behaviour, particularly for those most vulnerable students. If we continue to do what we have always done, we will continue to see rising exclusion rates coupled with poor attendance and escalating numbers of parents electively home educating rather than continue to bear witness to the impact of the school environment on their child’s mental health and well being. Schools require increased funding, support and training to create the environments and provision that will inclusively support ALL of our children to succeed in education”.

IRCT’s aspiration to #eliminateexclusion

IRCT share concerns about the increasing number of children who have and continue to be excluded from our schools.

Because we are committed to the goal of working towards the elimination of permanent exclusions, we have developed an Exclusion Position Statement. The Exclusion Position Statement here provides an overview of our concerns in relation to the current policy context and offers insight into variations in relation to experiences of exclusion. 

We are particularly concerned about the association between adverse childhood experiences, trauma and exclusion. In the Exclusion Position Statement, we recognise previous research which offers useful insights into ways through which schools can support the aspiration to eliminate permanent exclusion. We conclude our Exclusion Position Statement with several recommendations.

IRCT recommendations to eliminate permanent exclusions

To support the aspiration to eliminate permanent exclusions in the UK, IRCT urge policy makers and Government to consider our recommendations which aim to support individual children, develop whole school approaches, and encourage systemic change. 

Individual:

Ensure that all children experience emotional safety, feel cared for, and develop a sense of belonging and connection through authentic relationships

Ensure that all pupils experience enjoyment, engagement, autonomy, and success

Ensure that physiological and psychological responses to difficulties and distress are understood by all members of a school community

Ensure that all pupils experience compassionate interactions in response to their difficulties and distress

Whole school:

Compassionate non-conformity to resist initiatives that may create experiences of difficulty or distress for any member of a school community

Develop a school ethos and culture of connection and positive interactions

Develop and embrace inclusive, nurturing communities where all members of a school community feel valued

Develop relational policies, pedagogy and practice

Minimise experiences of difficulty and distress in school

Offer early support for children experiencing difficulties or distress

Ensure that reasonable adjustments are made in all aspects of schooling for children with Special Educational Needs/ Disabilities including SEMH needs

Avoid the use of permanent exclusion

Systemic change

Remove permanent exclusion as an available option for any educational provider

Ensure inclusion is encouraged, recognised, and incentivised

Ensure systemic discrimination and inequitable Educational experiences are continually addressed

Recognise and celebrate the elimination of permanent exclusion

Ensure policy guidance encourages children’s self-regulation (physiological and emotional), autonomy and self-reflection rather than promoting compliance, coercion and control through consequences, sanctions and punishments

Ensure policy guidance recognises that experiences and context influence children’s behaviour

Facilitate a move away from competitive, comparative, meritocratic experiences towards compassionate, caring, and collaborative experiences

Ensure external quality assurance measures focus on children’s mental health and wellbeing

Ensure early recognition of additional learning needs leads to immediate support

Increase funding for within school and community initiatives that support the emotional wellbeing and mental health of all children at universal, group and individual levels

For information regarding IRCT’s campaigns take a look around our website and visit our Campaigns page.

If you are interested in becoming an IRCT Trustee or member please contact chair@irct.org.uk

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A year in review: Our 2023 events

We were pleased to be able to host events online and at the House of Lords in 2023, here’s a roundup of the topics and discussion points. In addition to our ongoing lobbying and campaign work (which is less visible) we are planning four new events for 2024.


Stable Safe Homes Built on love. Is Love Enough?

Early in 2023 the Government published its strategy for Children’s services in response to the Independent Children’s Care Review and put it out for consultation. (“Stable Safe Homes Built on Love”) IRCT believes that proper recognition of the role of trauma in the lives of children in care is essential to provide better outcomes for them.

We held a Best Practice Forum in March 2023 at the House of Lords where we shared the IRCT response to this document and asked the question “Is Love Enough? Dr Chris Nicholson, Senior Lecturer Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies University of Essex,  set out some of the difficulties faced by children in care and those who care for them and shared a therapeutic model designed to address the underlying trauma needs that the children bring with them. Whilst there was general agreement that safe homes built on love are essential to provide the security necessary to enable children to recover from adversity in their early lives it is also clear that love alone is insufficient and those charged with the responsibility for their care require good training and support to achieve this.

Dr Chris Nicholson – Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex and Chair of The Consortium of Therapeutic Communities 

Click to view Dr Chris Nicholson’s presentation

Link to our response to Children’s Social Care Review 


Therapeutic Childcare-Good Enough. Better. Best.
Developing best practice in Therapeutic Child Care: Skilling the Workforce

We built on the theme of training and support at our next event held at the House of Lords in July 2023 when we ran a Best Practice Forum for practitioners, managers, trainers and policy makers concerned with the development of a workforce equipped to meet the therapeutic needs of some of the most damaged children in our society. The panel of speakers included those responsible for creating some of the first dedicated University Courses for workers providing therapeutic childcare together with The Royal College of Psychiatry Manager for quality improvement, standards and accreditation for therapeutic child care and therapeutic communities.

IRCT will be facilitating some further Roundtable Discussions  with the presenters from this event and others to develop a position statement to use for lobbying parliament about the need to create recognised and approved training courses for those providing therapeutic child care.


Introducing and Assessing the Impact of a Trauma Informed Approach in Education

IRCT has a Campaign running to work towards the elimination of permanent exclusions from school and to this end we are promoting approaches that aim to be inclusive and that cater for the needs of all children and young people.

Josh Tyers Head of School at Biscovey Academy in Cornwall has successfully introduced a trauma informed approach in his school and he provided an inspiring account of this at an online IRCT event held in November 2023.

Click to view Josh Tyers presentation