Families for Fair Care: Protecting Vulnerable Individuals in the Care System!

One family’s fight shouldn’t have to be every family’s fight.

For nearly a decade, Stephen lived safely and happily in his residential home, Old Orchard. It was a place where he felt secure, valued, and loved. Then, without warning, Stephen faced eviction—not because of risk, neglect, or choice—but because of a funding dispute between a local authority and a care provider.

After months of advocacy, media pressure, and overwhelming community support, Stephen won the right to remain in his home. But thousands of vulnerable people across the UK are not so lucky. They don’t have the public backing or the resources to fight. They’re forced to endure constant instability, displacement, and distress due to opaque funding processes and the absence of legal safeguards.

Placement instability is a hidden crisis in the care system. People with complex needs are being moved like pieces on a board—displaced, distressed, and disconnected—simply because of behind-closed-door discussions about profits and budgets. Vulnerable individuals, like Stephen, are being excluded from decisions that impact their lives. And when they can’t speak for themselves, their rights are disregarded.

That’s why we’re launching Families for Fair Care—a national campaign to demand legal protections for people in care, to ensure their voices are heard, and to hold authorities and care providers accountable for decisions that affect their lives.

We are calling for:

1. An impartial, independent third party to oversee all financial negotiations between care providers and funding authorities, ensuring that the rights and well-being of the individual are protected above financial considerations. This third party would serve as a neutral body that ensures the financial discussions do not undermine the individual’s care needs or well-being.
2. Legal power for the 'Relevant Person's Representatives' (RPR) to advocate for the individual’s best interests during placement reviews and funding decisions. This representative must be given the legal standing to ensure that the person’s care needs are prioritized and that financial considerations do not overrule the individual’s well-being.
3. Protection for social workers’ advocacy—Social workers must be empowered to advocate for their clients without their recommendations being overruled by funding authorities. Decisions about an individual’s care should never be solely based on financial concerns, and the social worker’s expert opinion should be treated with the same weight as any financial consideration.
4. Transparency in all placement funding decisions, ensuring that individuals, their families, and their representatives have access to all information regarding funding and care decisions. No more backdoor agreements that leave vulnerable people out of the conversation.

We need your voice.

Sign this petition to demand that the Government take immediate action to introduce legislation that will:

• Introduce an impartial third party to oversee financial negotiations.
• Empower the Relevant Person’s Representatives to advocate for the individual’s best interests.
• Ensure that social workers’ advocacy is respected and not overruled by funding authorities.
• Establish transparency in all funding decisions to protect vulnerable individuals from being moved or evicted without proper due process.

Stephen’s story had a positive ending, thanks to the support of the community. But we must fight to make this the rule, not the exception. By joining Families for Fair Care, you will help us bring dignity, safety, and fairness back to the care system. Together, we can ensure that no one else is forced to endure the trauma of losing their safe home due to bureaucratic mismanagement and financial neglect.

Key Actions:

Sign the petition to ensure that no vulnerable individual is forced to move out of their home due to financial pressures.

Share the petition to raise awareness about this national issue and encourage others to join the fight for fair care.

Advocate for change: Together, we can urge the government to pass legislation that protects the rights and care of vulnerable individuals.

We must do better. We must ensure fair care for all.

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