High Court applications to deprive children of their liberty by placing them in unregulated settings saw an unprecedented rise in a three-year period, a study shows.
The research, carried out by the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory, found the number of such applications increased from 108 to 579 in the three years to 2020/21, a rise of 462 per cent.
The study also revealed that in 2020/21 the use of these applications which resulted in children being placed in unregulated placements outnumbered those for places in secure children’s homes for the first time.