No child should be allowed to go missing

I was concerned to read your report regarding children between the ages of 13 and 17 placed within the care of Lewisham Council apparently going missing without their absences being noted promptly. “Children in care went missing 180 times.” (p.19, 27th January)

I accept that children’s residential facilities are not prisons and that reasonable freedom must be allowed by staff, particularly to older teenagers who may wish to meet with friends after school or during the evening.

There is however no justification for children, however difficult their behaviour may be, to be permitted to disappear overnight or for longer periods without being missed.

The safety of such children is endangered should they be wandering the streets at night or staying at an address which the local authority is unaware of.

It is likely that their schoolwork will suffer and/or they may find themselves in dangerous situations with individuals who will exploit vulnerable young people.

Keeley-Jasmine Cavendish
Address supplied by email

Picture: How the SLP reported, on January 27, the story of children going missing