On October 19, 2025, two parallel stories unfolded in the UK and the US, each focused on safeguarding the well-being of children—one addressing their physical care and the other their digital safety. In Hyndburn, East Lancashire, two separate applications landed on the council’s desk, both seeking to convert family homes into small, specialized children’s care facilities. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched Youville, a national online safety program designed to arm children aged eight to twelve with the tools they need to navigate the digital world securely.
Let’s start in Hyndburn, where the landscape of children’s care is quietly shifting. Cedar Path Ltd has applied for a Lawful Development Certificate to convert 2 Littlewalk Court, Church into what they describe as a “small specialist care home for a single child with learning difficulties (LD) and/or emotional behavioural difficulties (EBD),” as reported by the Lancashire Telegraph. The property, a three-bedroom detached house with ample parking and a garage, is intended to become an Ofsted-registered children’s home, specifically for children aged seven up to their 18th birthday. According to the planning statement, “The child will live at the property long term, hopefully for many years. This is not a halfway house or emergency housing for children.”
It’s a model that emphasizes stability. Only one child would live at the house, cared for by two carers working on a rota basis and sleeping overnight. In total, six carers would operate on a shift pattern—48 hours on, 72 hours off—ensuring continuity and familiarity for the child. Cedar Path’s statement insists, “There is no material difference in planning terms between the proposed use and the current use as a dwelling.” The goal, they say, is seamless integration into the local community, with a stringent impact risk assessment carried out for each child.
Not far away, Nurture North West has submitted a planning application for 4 Sefton Close, Clayton-le-Moors. Their plan is a bit broader: the four-bedroom detached home, complete with two reception rooms, a dining room, a kitchen, a utility room, a downstairs WC, a private driveway for six vehicles, a mature garden, and a double garage, would become an Ofsted-registered care home for up to three vulnerable children aged eight to seventeen. The home, they say, “will provide support for young people who have a range of complex individual needs, providing emergency, medium, and long-term placements.”
The application emphasizes that the home will be run by proficient staff under the watchful eye of a registered manager with more than a decade of Ofsted-approved experience. “Based on this assessment, it is argued that no material change of use would occur as a result of the proposed use of the building as a home for three vulnerable children, and therefore planning permission should be granted,” Nurture North West’s statement reads.
Both applications come at a time of heightened scrutiny. In June 2025, Hyndburn Council introduced a Supplementary Planning Guidance document on Children’s Residential and Supported Accommodations. This move followed concerns raised in August 2022 by then-deputy chair of the council’s planning committee, Cllr Judith Addison, who pointed to a “mushrooming industry of turning family houses into care homes” in East Lancashire. The new guidance aims to ensure that such conversions are properly regulated and that the needs of both vulnerable children and local communities are balanced. The council will debate both applications in line with these new standards at a later date.
While Hyndburn debates the physical spaces where vulnerable children will live and grow, the US is tackling another frontier of child safety: the digital world. On the same day as the Hyndburn applications, the FTC rolled out Youville, a free online safety program targeting children aged eight to twelve. As reported by the Broadcast Retirement Network, the program is designed to teach kids about privacy, online safety, spotting scams, digital citizenship, and understanding advertising techniques that target them.
James Kreidler of the FTC explained the motivation behind Youville: “There’s so many kids that are online now, really now more than ever. And we designed Youville as a way for teachers to help young children, that’s kids basically eight to 12 years old, learn things about privacy and online safety, how to spot and avoid scams, digital citizenship and understanding advertising techniques that target them.” The program is freely available at ftc.gov/Youville and includes twelve lesson plans and activity sheets, each designed to take just ten to fifteen minutes. The activities use hypothetical online scenarios—such as receiving a message from a stranger asking for private information—to help kids make safe choices and understand the consequences of their actions.
But Youville isn’t just about worksheets. It’s wrapped in an adventure narrative where children work together to save the Youbies, the citizens of Youville, from a nefarious force called the Clawed, which tries to steal private information. “We wanted to really appeal to them. And but also kind of have them be the deciders, have them be the ones who are choosing, you know, oh, what should I do in this situation? So we think it’s a concept that really appeals or will appeal to kids,” Kreidler said.
Teachers and parents can access the materials online, and the program is designed to complement school curricula in social studies and language arts. While it’s too early to gauge national uptake, the FTC hopes Youville will soon find its way into classrooms and homes across the country. Kreidler noted, “It is a national program available to anyone who teaches kids for free and for parents. And we, you know, we think it’s kind of the perfect add on to classes in social studies or in language arts. There’s a lot of different applications. Youville is designed to meet standards. So it really does slot in quite well with, you know, the things that teachers are teaching kids.”
The broader aim is to reduce privacy invasions and scam complaints among children. Kreidler added, “Our goal really is to maybe help help give tools to parents so that a whole generation of kids, if they come in contact with Youville and use some of the resources, really have tools to navigate safely online.” The FTC also offers resources for older adults through its Pass It On campaign, recognizing that scams target people of all ages.
Both the Hyndburn care home proposals and the Youville program reflect a growing recognition that children’s safety—whether in their homes or online—requires proactive, thoughtful intervention. As communities and governments wrestle with changing needs and new threats, these efforts represent different but equally vital attempts to give young people the support and knowledge they need to thrive in an increasingly complex world.
The coming months will reveal how Hyndburn Council decides on the care home applications and how widely Youville is adopted. For now, both stories are reminders that safeguarding children is a responsibility that stretches from the physical spaces we provide to the digital landscapes they explore every day.
