Sexually exploited children are at further risk in care, says Barnardo's Barnardo's says vunerable children lack trained foster carers to protect them from abuse. Photograph: Martin Godwin/guardian.co.uk Children who have been sexually exploited and trafficked are being put in further danger because of a dire lack of trained foster carers, a children's charity has warned. The most vulnerable children are left in residential care or secure units where they are at greater risk from groomers and traffickers, according to Barnardo's. Taking action after nine men were jailed for grooming young girls for sex in Rochdale, the Department of Education has announced new funding for a specialist foster care scheme in an attempt to tackle the problem, but Barnardo's argues that more must be done. Without a doubt the system is completely failing children in residential care. This idea that you can gather large numbers of vulnerable children together in one place acts as a magnet to abusers - you might as well put up a neon sign saying get your most vulnerable children here," said Anne-Marie Carrie, chief executive of Barnardo's. A recent report by the charity about sexual exploitation in Northern Ireland claimed that two thirds of girls in care were at risk of sexual exploitation. Half of these children were only put at risk after they went into care, according to the report, Not a World Away. It is a picture that is reflected throughout the UK, said Carrie. "It is unforgiveable as a society that we are taking children who have already been badly let down by their parents and family and putting them in a worse situation," she said. Putting children who were being sexually exploited into secure accommodation only exacerbated the problem, she added. If you were a child who was being sexually abused why would you disclose that if as a result you feel you are being punished and your liberty is going to be taken away? Following the conviction of the nine Rochdale abusers Carrie wrote to the education secretary, Michael Gove, calling for more funding to help sexually exploited children and the roll out of the current £1.4m project across the UK. We are at a critical moment here. Until recently these children were seen as somehow consenting to their abuse and now they are being recognised as victims. Given the awareness created by the Rochdale case, this could now be a game-changing moment," she said. A spokesman for the Department of Education said the government had launched an action plan to tackle grooming and had commissioned an urgent report from the children's commissioner into sexual exploitation and care homes. The aim of the Barnardo's pilot was to create a national programme to help children escape exploitation, to give support to and prevent further abuse. "It's difficult, painstaking work and we are looking carefully at the impact," he said. The aim is to develop a national resource which social services and child protection agencies would use to give victims the specialist support they need. The Barnardo's pilot currently has six sets of parents looking after children who have been sexually abused, and it is looking for 10 more. Claire, a 51-year-old mother and grandmother, and her husband decided to foster a 17-year-old boy who had been groomed and sexually abused for a number of years. "He was seriously underweight, avoiding eye contact, shivering, extremely nervous and refused to eat or drink," she said. He could swear and make sexual references that could turn the air blue, but that was not him - it was what he had heard. You have to show there is another way. Now he is very socially adept. The scheme provides specialist help and training as well as regular visits from social workers and therapists. "It is an exceptional role that can bring huge rewards," said Brenda Farrell, from Barnardo's family placement team. Specialist foster carers will be working as part of a team to develop skills and have a chance to make a significant change to these children's lives and remove them from harm - that opportunity is a huge motivation. Anyone interested in being a specialist foster carer should contact Barnardo's on 0800 0277 280 or go to www.barnardos.org.uk/specialistfostercarecse.