Viewers praised an "upsetting but important" documentary following Joe Swash as he explored the stories of teenagers in care. The star has been outspoken over a system he said was "setting kids up to fail".
The BBC's Joe Swash: Teens in Care saw the actor and presenter meeting youngsters over the age of 16, who are the largest growing cohort in both child protection and care. The subject is close to his heart as Joe's mum has been a foster carer for 15 years.
Viewers were moved by the stories of the teenagers featured, including 17-year-old Karl, who lives in a private group home but is about to age out of the system that has been responsible for him for 13 years. And Joe was also applauded for his connection with the youngsters and willingness to speak out about the problems facing the care system.
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@SamanthaFiander said on Twitter: "Important to see these issues and stories get such airtime and profile. Some of the language in this programme needs to change though: children are not damaged, and homes are homes not facilities." @KatEasthope added: "Watching the Joe Swash thing about looked after kids. And it's hitting home. I was one of the fortunate ones who had amazing foster parents, I love Carmel and Peter and of course my wonderful Aunt Gina. I am the person I am because of them."
@PeteMoring said: "#JoeSwash #TeensInCare. An absolutely brilliant #Documentary - Hitting the nail Squarly on the HEAD! Well done Joe". @1HayJay said: "This joe Swash doc is a hard watch. Especially having been a kinship carer. The entire system is screwed & needs a complete overhaul from start to finish. We should be ashamed as a country. Joe seems like such a really great guy though!"
@andyedmeads wrote: "An upsetting but important watch, Joe Swash did a great job with #TeensInCare highlighting a completely broken system and calling on policy makers and all of us to do more."
At the conclusion of the documentary Joe called for urgent changes to be made. He said: "From what I've learned about the care system from doing this documentary, a lot of these children haven't really had their childhood, they've gone through some dramatic things and now at 18 you expect them to live independently, have no mental health problems. There's not much support out there for them.
"Once you fall through that net, there's not that many people there to catch you. I almost feel like we're setting them up for failure.
"But this journey has also shown and highlighted how important it is to have adults that are wiling to put their neck on the line for these young kids, to look after them beyond the age of their time in care. The quicker we can really repair the system that's broken, it really is broken, the better. Otherwise we're going to be dealing with young people with a lot of problems for a long time."
