UK minister visits Denmark to fix care homes

Josh MacAlister, the children’s minister, traveled to Copenhagen this week to inspect a residential facility that British officials are studying for its approach to care. He visited Josephine Schneider’s House, a 140-year-old building in a quiet suburb outside the city center. The site houses 12 young people aged six to 23 and is regarded as a benchmark for global children’s care.

The visit forms part of a Department for Education review aimed at fixing the English system. MacAlister admitted the current situation is dire. He noted that a shadow system of illegal, unregistered homes exists where children do not receive proper therapeutic support. He stated that the costs are huge and that a major shake-up is required. He said he spends as many hours as possible each week on social care reform.

The financial scale of the problem in England is substantial. Last year, 669 children lived in illegal, unregistered homes while councils spent more than £125 million of public money to keep them there. Total spending on children’s homes rose 96% over five years, reaching over £3.1 billion in the 2023-24 fiscal year. During this period, standards declined, private equity firms increased profits, and more children were placed in homes hundreds of miles from their families.

The interior of Schneider’s House contrasts sharply with typical British facilities. A spacious kitchen sits at the center of the home, staffed by a head chef named Rasmus. He prepares meals, lunch boxes, and snacks, with pizza rolls being a popular item. He encourages the children to participate in cooking and grocery shopping. The remaining staff hold degrees in social pedagogy, a field focused on psychology and child development. They aim to recreate a traditional family atmosphere by living, eating, and socializing with the residents.

Mads Sørensen, the deputy director, explained that the home does not employ an in-house therapist because all daily activities are designed to be therapeutic. One staff member sleeps in the house and wakes the children at 7 a.m. daily. Sørensen said they ask each child how they prefer to be woken to create predictability and calm their nervous systems. Many residents have experienced physical, emotional, or social neglect, and issues like self-harm and insomnia are common.

The Danish model emphasizes maintaining connections. Children are encouraged to have friends stay on weekends and holidays. The home holds regular parent evenings, including a Christmas banquet. Each child is assigned a team of two or three staff members to oversee their education and wellbeing. Older residents aged 17 and above live in a semi-independent flat on the top floor. They manage their own food and chores under staff guidance to prepare for adulthood. They can stay until age 23 and are encouraged to visit afterward.

In England, teenagers must leave care at age 18, a cutoff that contributes to the early deaths of care leavers. MacAlister said he is persuaded to change this binary rule. He cited cases of children being forced to move while sitting A-levels. He also wants to import the Danish focus on personal growth and family relationships. He criticized the English model, saying adults often contain their own anxiety about teenagers rather than prioritizing the child’s needs.

The quality of staff is a central issue in the review. Emmanuel Akpan-Inwang, director of Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust, leads the assessment. He noted that work in Danish children’s homes is a competitive career where staff are well-trained and stay in the sector for long periods. At Schneider’s House, many employees have worked there for more than ten years. In the UK, 53% of children’s home staff have worked in the sector for three years or less due to poor pay and conditions.

Funding structures differ significantly between the two countries. In Denmark, a third of homes are publicly owned, 42% are not-for-profit, and 27% are private profit. In England, 83% of places are privately run, with some operators achieving profit margins above 20%. The government has passed laws allowing it to cap private profits but has not yet used them. MacAlister said they must wait for a new market oversight body to provide full transparency before pushing ahead.

The Welsh government plans to ban for-profit providers in children’s social care by 2030. MacAlister said replicating this in England would be difficult given the larger numbers involved. He stated that local authorities need massive support to take back control of the purchasing process. He aims to curb demand by increasing foster and kinship care options, shaping a system driven by public needs rather than profit.