Guidelines say children should be placed within 20 miles of home

A council report claims too many youngsters are coming into care from outside Kent and are being damaged by living far from their communities.

But a spokesman for Farrow House, which runs two children's homes in Thanet, said that is sometimes the best option.

Bob Yetzes argued young people often need to be in a different area.

"If a child has been involved with, for example, drugs with a local gang, then you're going to try to move them away," said Mr Yetzes.

The council report said most children had come from Hounslow, Islington and Essex.

"They are placing their problems on Thanet's doorstep rather than dealing with it themselves," said chief executive Richard Samuel.

A well-run home will look after the children and contain most of the problems themselves Bob Yetzes, Farrow House children's homes

All three local authorities declined to comment on the findings by the Kent Child Support Committee.

Government guidelines state children should not be sent more than 20 miles from their home community - unless the circumstances are exceptional.

The Farrow House homes in the Cliftonville and Margate area currently house six children - two from Kent, two from London, one from Essex and one from Coventry.

However, Mr Yetzes said arguments about where children were placed were not as important as "how you care for them".

Chairman of the council committee, Oliver Mills, said an investigation was launched following concerns over youngsters disrupting local life in Thanet.

Police resources

"We felt it was necessary to look at the causes of that and very quickly we found the biggest cause was the sheer number of placements of looked-after children placed in Thanet by other local authorities," he said.

Thanet's police commander, Supt Penny Martin, said the numbers were a drain on police resources because some youngsters ended up in custody while others go missing.

"We often don't find out they have special needs until they end up coming to the attention of a police officer."

Mr Yetzes argued: "There are times when we've had difficulties with children, but I wouldn't have said we are a huge drain on resources.

"A well-run home will look after the children and contain most of the problems themselves.

"Sometimes there are teenagers gathered in a front garden chatting to friends, but you find that anywhere, that's just what children do."