Councils urged to examine use of residential care
Local authorities and residential care providers are being encouraged to think more carefully about the needs of children in care after the government published data on the use of children’s homes across England.
A data pack has been produced by the Department for Education setting out details of the number of placements children have in residential care, how long they stay in homes, how different local authorities utilise homes and the characteristics of children who live in residential care.
The aim of the pack is to give commissioners and providers a better picture of how children’s homes are being used so they can better meet their legal duty to commission sufficient good quality accommodation for looked-after children.
Children’s minister Tim Loughton said: “For many children, residential children’s homes offer stability and security they may have been missing in their early lives. Excellent residential care has the potential to turn children’s lives around. We want to make sure all children’s homes are up to the standard of the best and make sure that local authorities are considering them as a viable placement option if appropriate for certain children.
“That’s why we have published, for the first time, all the data that we have on children’s homes. We hope local areas and children’s homes providers will use this data to think about how they commission services and place children. Over the coming months we will be working closely with the sector on a programme of work to target underperforming children’s homes and make sure that children are receiving the best quality care.”
Jonathan Stanley, former manager of the National Centre for Excellence in Residential Child Care, said: “This is the most positive thing we have heard about residential child care for decades. Tim Loughton notes that young people regard residential childcare as hugely positive. The sufficiency duty is clear but we need to hold on to the other part of the duty too, which is diversity, and add another part on sustainability.
“The challenge for commissioners now is how to incentivise providers to establish new provision when commissioners are curtailing fees. A new partnership is urgently needed. This cannot only be about placements but must include shared workforce development, assured by commissioners.”
The first edition of a newsletter for people interested in improving children’s homes services, which aims to provide a forum for children’s homes providers to exchange information and share good practice, has also been published.
