Glaring failures by local authorities to protect vulnerable children and teenagers have reduced them to sleeping rough on British streets, night buses, in police stations, and in drug dens. Many are thought to be at high risk of abuse.
Coram Voice, a British charity that empowers young people and children to hold the state accountable for their care, released a damning report on Tuesday highlighting the crisis of youth homelessness in Britain.
The report, entitled “The Door Is Closed,” uncovered local councils’ startling failures to protect young people at risk of homelessness – as well as those who are already on the streets.
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‘Cold, hungry and in a desperate state’
The charity’s director, Andrew Radford, said the children’s rights group had encountered numerous vulnerable minors across the country who had been forced from their homes as a result of “violence, abuse or family breakdown.”
While these youngsters request help from state institutions such as local authorities, they are turned away and often end up on the street, he said.
Read More: Hundreds of UK children sleep on streets and in drug dens – local govt slammed
