'No child should be moved away': why councils are opening new children's homes

After decades of decline, the council-run children’s home is being reinvented and growing numbers of local authorities are returning to provision of their own residential care for “looked-after” youngsters.

From Nottinghamshire to Bristol, small “family-style” council homes are being opened to cater for some of the most vulnerable children and teenagers. In some cases, they have just one or two bedrooms in an attempt to reflect a typical household and better meet young people’s needs.

Revival of the council children’s home comes amid concern over the quality of some private residential care, the high cost of private placements for youngsters with complex needs and often limited local availability. This has led to councils placing children far from their home patch when foster care has not been considered suitable.

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The emerging trend follows a 40-year period of sustained children’s home closures and expansion of fostering. Residential homes peaked in the 1970s when councils in England accommodated 40,000 children, representing some 40% of all care placements. Today, residential care of all kinds accounts for just 12% of all placements in England – and the great majority of those are in the private sector.

Fewer than one in five children’s homes is run by a council and, according to the Ofsted inspectorate, more than a quarter of English councils have no provision of their own within their boundaries. However, demand for residential placements has started to rise again and private providers have rushed to fill the gap. Latest figures show that the total number of children’s homes in England increased to 2,209 in 2018 from 2,071 two years previously, although the number run by councils continued to drop to 423.

That is almost certainly now changing, judging from plans for new council provision springing up around the country.

One of the biggest transformations is in Hertfordshire, where plans were approved in October for seven four-bedroom homes and three solo or one-bed units as part of a new, multimillion-pound residential care strategy.

“In the last couple of years, we have had an increase in the number of children coming into care with complex needs who can’t live safely [in the family] and are putting themselves at risk,” says Marion Ingram, the council’s operations director for specialist services. “Sometimes we have had to place them out of county, because there is nothing local. We have tried to keep them within 100 miles of home, but we are not always successful.”

Many children coming into care are traumatised and need focused support, Ingram says. The solo units will be tailored for them and, because of their particular needs, will in some cases be managed by outside specialist providers.

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In Bristol, the city council is replacing its five six-bed homes with 10 smaller two- to three-bedroom units as part of a £3.8m programme. “While we are proud of the current provision, we have to accept the model is outdated,” says Helen Godwin, cabinet member for children’s services. “We want to provide small, family-sized homes that fit in with the rest of the neighbourhood and are better suited to the children with complex needs. Sometimes it is difficult for them to live alongside other young people with similar needs.”

In Shropshire, new units are planned for 2020. The council currently has 36 young people in residential care, with 15 more in residential schools. Yet of the 51 placements, some 34 are placed outside of the county and the average cost of an external residential placement is £3,676 a week – with the highest at £12,000.

Development plans are also afoot in Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Cumbria.

The squeeze on children’s services budgets across the country is helping focus minds on the case for new council-run homes. Jenny Coles, vice-president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services and director of children’s services in Hertfordshire, thinks it is dawning on many councils that running down their own facilities has gone too far, against a backdrop of rising numbers of cases of child sexual exploitation and criminal child exploitation. In addition, government policies aimed at keeping young people out of psychiatric care and youth custody have left councils supporting teenagers with significant mental health problems.

“The rise in the number of children with complex needs has led to a rethink over the last 18 months,” says Coles. “All local authorities have to make sure they look at outcomes for children. We are seeing a growing number looking to invest to transform residential homes. There is a recognition that more homes are needed and councils need to invest locally and work together to increase specialist provision.”

It is a view shared by Become, the charity for children in care and care leavers, which wants an urgent review of the care system.

Katharine Sacks-Jones, the charity’s chief executive, says residential care can provide a loving, stable environment, however, outsourcing of provision and pressures on the care system mean there are simply not enough homes in the right places.

“This has to change – no child should be moved away from their home area or placed in inappropriate accommodation because of a lack of options,” says Sacks-Jones. “Government must urgently review the care system and ensure we have the right homes in the right places to meet the growing need.”

‘The smaller the unit, the better it is – it means a person can get more support’

New council-run children’s homes will have to improve their approach if they are to offer proper support to young people, according to one former resident.

Trey Ndele, who is now a fitness instructor and sports model, spent two years in foster care before going into residential care at age 15. While he talks positively about his time being fostered, he believes things could have been better at the council homes he experienced in Essex. He went into three different homes in the space of about 18 months, each one accommodating between six and eight boys aged 14-17.

“I spent my time either at school or at football practice, so I didn’t really socialise with others,” says Ndele, 23. “The main problem was the homes weren’t very homely: you weren’t allowed to bring friends around and there was no PlayStation or games to play. At times, it was almost like a prison and, because of the size of the homes, we didn’t get the personal support we needed.”

All that changed when Ndele went into smaller, supported living accommodation at age 17 and shared a flat with one or two others for the next three years. He remains in contact with his flatmates. “That was really good,” he says. “The smaller the unit, the better it is – it means a person can get more support.”

Ndele is now an ambassador for Become, the charity for children in care and care leavers.

“I grew up in care and I think it’s important to tell others in care about the support that is available,” he says. “They don’t have to end banged up in prison.”