There has been an awful lot in the news this week about Kids Company and its founder Camila Batmanghelidjh. There have been allegations and counter-allegations, rumours, talk of conspiracies, highly emotive press appearances and personal accounts both anonymous and on the record. Which means you may be a little confused as to what is actually going on. Here is, to the best of our ability, a quick explanation:
What was Kids Company?
Kids Company was a children’s charity started in South London in 1996 by the Iranian-born social activist Camila Batmanghelidjh. It provided ‘practical, emotional and educational support to some of the most deprived and vulnerable inner-city children and young people in London, Liverpool and Bristol’. This support included counselling, walk-in centres, providing hot meals and giving housing and health advice for children and young people.
Has it really closed?
According to the charity’s website, Kids Company has now closed. Staff have lost their jobs and children who were only using Kids Company's services because they'd fallen through the cracks in the government's social services are now desperate for help.
What happened?
Back in February, Mike Goslett wrote in the Spectator that ‘there are a number who believe that Kids Company has perhaps grown too quickly and would, despite its undoubted achievements, benefit from a review of its operations and controls.’
The main accusation is that Kids Company did not look after its finances as strictly as it should have. Batmanghelidjh’s philosophy of never turning a child away (she once brought in a six-year-old she found in his underwear in the snow) meant that the charity would help children then cost up that help later. With 80% of Kids Company's 'clients' being self-referred like this, the charity was never able to build up a reserve of cash. According to The Guardian, between 2009 and 2013, Kids Company’s income increased by 77% from £13m to £23m, but the charity was spending almost every penny it brought in.
In the same period, its outgoings increased by 72% as it expanded to include – at the time of closing – 11 street level centres in London and Bristol, an outreach project in Liverpool and projects with more than 40 schools in London and Bristol.
So is that it? It ran out of money?
Well, here the story gets a little more complicated. Apparently, the Government told Kids Company it would not receive £3m of funding unless Camila Batmanghelidjh was replaced as chief executive and the management was restructured. Ms Batmanghelidjh agreed to move roles and the money was paid. But then, after Camila Batmanghelidjh had moved, the Cabinet Office asked for the money back because it believed the conditions attached to the use of the money were not met.
Or, according to Batmanghelidjh’s account on Newsnight: ‘We had a fantastic deal on the table, with the Government getting money in, with the philanthropists putting money in… The minute the Government money hit our account, suddenly out of the blue came these allegations of sexual abuse about which we knew nothing and within an hour or so it was all over the news and we still didn't know what these allegations were at that point.’
Hold on, what allegations are these?
It has been alleged that an older boy who used Kids Company sexually exploited younger girls who he’d met through the charity, off site. A week ago, the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into Kids Company because it is alleged that the charity knew about the abuse, but did not report it to the police.
This has been denied by Camila Batmanghelidjh, who told BBC News that: 'In 19 years we haven't had a single Child Protection problem in the organisation. And whenever something is raised with us we immediately report it to the police.'
Has the government got a problem with Camila?
Not on the record. As far as we know, David Cameron's people have defended his closeness to Camila by saying he was 'mesmerised' by her. Camila did in fact tell The Debrief... in an interview last year that she wanted a Children's Commission to look into childcare services (or lack thereof): 'One in seven child protection departments are failing and only 40 per cent of child protection departments are deemed “good” or “satisfactory”. That said, she did stipulate that this wasn't a problem with the Government, but Britain as a whole: 'We've become a nation that demonises children and perceives them to be the adversaries, negatively impacting our quality of life. And so we stop taking responsibility for these children.'
That said, she has vocally criticised the Government on various issues, such as the housing crisis, saying in 2013: 'Social cleansing has been going on for a while, it's just that it's got more visible under this government. But it is outrageous, the derogatory attitude towards the poor. It's morally corrupt'
What happens now?
Well, while the investigation is under way, it’s hard to say. According to the Kids Company website: 'The charity’s 11 street level centres in London and Bristol and its outreach project in Liverpool will close immediately and its work with over 40 schools in London and Bristol will also come to an end.' It has been estimated that the closure of the charity could affect up to 36,000 young people, many of whom are suffering mental health, housing and child protection issues.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.