In two cases, inspectors found that staff were using restraint to try to manage children’s behaviour, and one of those children was restrained 78 times.
A survey funded by our readers and conducted by Amárach Research asked about issues including how often people call the freephone and can’t get a bed for the night, and the conditions in the hostels when they do get in.
Charities that run such hostels say they have their own standards in place. But it’s not clear who, if anyone, is looking over their shoulders to make sure they meet them.
Great news, thanks to 72 supporters, as of 30 March, we now have enough to pay a market-research firm to do this survey. Thanks everyone! We’ll get to work.
