Unfitness to Plead Consultation Responses - Law Commission ...

BACKGROUND
Kids Company and Unfitness to Plead
This submission is on behalf of Kids Company. Kids Company is a charity that was
founded in 1996 by Camila Batmanghelidjh. The charity aims to provide practical,
emotional and educational support to vulnerable inner city children.
Currently Kids Company services reach 14,000 children across London, and we
specialise in working with the most deprived and at risk whose parents are unable to
care for them due to their own practical and emotional challenges. Kids Company aims
to provide a safe, caring, family environment where support is tailored to each individual.
We currently operate through four street level centres and have services in over 30
schools across London.
The value base at Kids Company: Kids Company is an organisation whose ethos is to
respond directly to the needs of children. We have a policy of never turning away a child
who presents as in need. Naturally, this leads to a situation where our response to
children is “non-bureaucratic”; we do not have “thresholds” for example. Many of the
children with whom we work are in crisis and require our immediate response. Kids
Company operates through a culture of advocacy and understanding of our client
groups. There is a strong emphasis on inclusivity and equal opportunities and a culture
of working in a transparent and fair way. Kids Company have clear guidelines about
upholding non-discriminatory and thoughtful practice.
The two central philosophies that underpin the work at Kids Company are that the
children must come first, and we cannot turn a child away. These are both immensely
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