This week the Centre for Social Justice published its report on children in care. This is the product of a commission, chaired by me, looking at the steep rise in children being taken into care and how we can reduce it. The answer is obvious: more and earlier work with the families who are struggling to cope, to help them look after their kids well and safely.
Our society has a responsibility to these children, and that means helping their families - not stepping in once everything has fallen apart, and putting children to live with strangers (however loving they are - foster carers do the most wonderful job).
