The Local Government Ombudsman has said again that housing homeless young people in B&Bs is not appropriate, even in an emergency situation.
This statement was prompted by the fact that Lancashire County Council had placed a teenager with complex behavioural issues in a B&B after his home life had broken down. The teenager in question was a cannabis user and demonstrated violent behaviour.
The court ordered that the boy should stay with whomever the council directed him to stay with, however, as there were no family members that were willing or able to take him, the council’s Children’s Services department placed him in a B&B for five days despite concerns surrounding his violent behaviour.
In addition to this, the council only visited him two days into his stay at the B&B and did not carry out a new assessment of the boy’s needs, which it is required to do by statutory guidance on young people who are homeless.
The council has been asked to apologise to the mother of the boy in question for failing to do the necessary assessments and has accepted to improve its policy for homeless teenagers.
To read the full article, please visit the Family Law Week’s website.
