Memorandum by ChildLine (HOM 02)
Further to the announcement in July that the
ODPM Select Committee will undertake an inquiry into homelessness,
I hope you find the following and enclosed information from ChildLine
helpful in highlighting some of the problems related to homelessness
raised by young people who call the helpline. Although the remit
of your committee does not specifically cover child protection
issues, ChildLine's data provides a unique insight from the perspective
of children. This will hopefully be valuable in the committee's
consideration of the success of policies meeting the needs of
homeless families and under-18s, and the more general related
issues of social exclusion.
ChildLine is the UK's free 24-hour helpline
for children and young people in danger or distress. ChildLine
offers comfort, advice, protection and counselling to any child
or young person who seeks it from us, whatever their concern.
We do this through our free telephone helpline, by letter, by
producing web-based and published information and by helping other
children and adults to understand children's needs and respond
to them.
ChildLine talks with children and young people
about the concerns in their lives, some of which may provoke them
to consider drastic actions such as suicide or running away. ChildLine
assists children in escaping from immediate danger and facilitates
them in looking to longer term solutions to their problems. Children
in distress may speak to a counsellor once, a few, or many times,
to receive both immediate support and advice, or more substantive
counselling over a period of months or even years. ChildLine links
callers to other agencies, including social services and mental
health services, and will work alongside other professionals in
continuing to support a caller through often difficult processes
of investigations, treatment or court hearings.
Last year ChildLine heard from 1,653 children
and young people whose main reason for calling was homelessness,
a 20% increase on the previous year's callers on this issue. A
further 1,919 children spoke to a ChildLine counsellor because
they had run away from home or care. While ChildLine hears from
on average four times as many girls as boys, across all problem
areas, callers speaking to counsellors about homelessness are
only nearly twice as likely to be female. This is supported by
other ChildLine research that demonstrates that boys frequently
reach crisis point before calling to speak to a counsellor. In
2002-03 boys accounted for around one-third of the emergency referrals
ChildLine made to other helping agencies such as the police or
social services.
ChildLine also campaigns on behalf of children
by relaying what they tell us to policy-makers who can help change
children's lives for the better. In 2000 the charity published
the research report No Home and Alone (enclosed), an analysis
of the experiences of runaway and homeless young people calling
ChildLine. Much of the report focuses on the reasons why children
have run away from home or care, such as sexual abuse and violence
in the family home, or pregnancy. It outlines recommendations
for practical help such as safe houses, and financial help for
16 and 17 year olds, and looked-after children. The report also
recommends preventative measures to try to help young people to
stay in the care of their family or guardians.
Later this month ChildLine will also publish
a report on young runaways, following research undertaken in partnership
with Get Connected and the Runaway Helpline (part of the National
Missing Persons Helpline charity). It highlights that young people
who run away are often forced into vulnerable situations, especially
at night, due to fragmented services that are unevenly spread
throughout the UK. The report recommends that local authorities
assess and make provision for young runaways, and make sustainable
funding a priority.
ChildLine hears from fewer children who are
literally homeless and living on the streets, and these calls
tend to be from those aged 15 and over, but what they disclose
to counsellors reveals much about the lack of services available
to them and how difficult they find it to find help and protection.
I hope you find this information interesting
and useful. Please do contact Pamela Dow on 020 7650 3445, or
by email on pdow@childline.org.uk, if we can provide you with
more details about any aspect of our work, or help further with
the committee's inquiry. For your interest I have enclosed a copy
of our latest Annual Review, which contains both statistical information
about the nature of calls we receive, and more general details
about the charity.
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