Knowledge & Resource Hub

I want every child in care to have access to a stable home environment that is able to meet their needs and give them the love and care they need to thrive in every aspect of their life. They should be in familial environments that can provide them with care until they are at least […]

In undertaking my Independent Family Review, I’ve heard from families of all kinds about why family is so important. I wanted to understand why this what, and what we as policy makers could do in response. The importance – and power – of family life is no different for children in the care system, but […]

In April 2021 I launched The Big Ask as a national consultation exercise with children across England. I asked them about their lives, their priorities, their worries and their hopes for the future, and children wrote back. The Big Ask was live for 6 weeks and in that time, over 550,000 children completed the survey, […]

Foreword by Dame Rachel de Souza Family is central to all of our lives, particularly children, for whom family is the prism through which the world is experienced. That is why I was excited to be asked to undertake the Independent Family Review and am so pleased to be publishing Part 2. At its core […]

‘The fact that some adults don’t believe in children’s rights, and we have those rights, so we need the Government to speak about rights for kids so that we have a life of some sort of freedom. And that we have respect for adults so adults should have at least some respect for kids around […]

Foreword by Dame Rachel de Souza “People with disabilities are very intelligent in their own way, we all have a voice if it’s by iPad or by mobile phone or eye gaze or a communication book” – Boy, 17, The Big Ask. This paper is dedicated to all children growing up in England with additional […]

As Children’s Commissioner, I am proud to run a support and advice service for children in care, open to children’s services or accommodated by the state in another way (such as in hospital or custody) and care leavers. This service – Help at Hand – is for children at their most acute moments of need. […]

This report sets out our vision for care leavers and provides clear recommendations to achieve this vision.

This Review draws on brand new research across all families and children in England to show what modern family life looks like, how its changed over time and how it’s been impacted by the pandemic.

This policy paper looks at what children’s homes need to provide, from the perspective of the child, setting out a minimum set of expectations for every child living in a children’s home.

This report explores the inconsistencies in the structure, outcomes and timescales of just under 650 EHCPs in two local authorities in England.

Foreword from Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza On the first anniversary of my appointment as Children’s Commissioner, I am publishing this report to reflect on my office’s work and achievements for children over the last twelve months. It has been an absolute honour to take on this crucial role, sitting at the […]