Across England, Scotland, and Wales, a government agency designed to protect children after family breakdown has itself become a source of harm — through administrative errors, unenforced court orders, and a bureaucratic indifference that leaves food on the table unprovided and mental health in ruins. The Child Maintenance Service, overseeing more than 800,000 cases and a million children, has accumulated a record of promises deferred and accountability avoided, raising a quiet but urgent question about what a society owes its most vulnerable members when its own systems fail them. Reform is p
Child Maintenance Service failures push parents to breaking point, BBC investigation reveals
Children experiencing food insecurity and activity deprivation; parents reporting mental health crises including anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation linked to system failures.