Children in care

ePolitix.com Stakeholders comment on a Commission for Social Care Inspection report on one-person children's homes.

 

Stakeholder Response: CSCI

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The CSCI said: "Children with complex needs are living on their own in single-place homes with councils having no clear idea of the impact these placements have on each child.

"Many children may have emotional or behavioural difficulties, learning disabilities and mental health problems – and they could display challenging behaviour and may be difficult to control."

Dame Denise Platt said:"We don’t know enough about how children respond to living on their own in these one place children's homes."

Stakeholder Response: Bryn Melyn Group

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A spokesman for Bryn Melyn Group said: "CSCI has published a report on one person children's homes, a form of residential care which is designed to meet the needs of children in the care system who cannot manage in group settings or family placements.  

"The report acknowledges that the research did not track children's experience over years or even months.

"It was simply a snapshot of a population at a given time. It also commented that little is known about outcomes for these children.

"Homes which have delivered this type of care provision for many years have extensive case study evidence of good outcomes for children and young people who have high levels of need that cannot be met in more traditional forms of residential or foster care.

"Much of this evidence has included 10 year case studies. 

"Unfortunately there is no good collated evidence base for the whole cohort as yet, partly because this is such a small population of children (less than two per cent of all children in care).

"There is also insufficient evidence as to whether such homes provide good value for money. We know from the social exclusion unit that the cost to society of getting things badly wrong for 18 to 25-year-olds in high risk groups is over £300m over three years.

"The kind of young people with highly complex needs who are most likely to benefit from intensive programmes in single occupancy homes are exactly those who are likely to deliver these huge savings to the exchequer if they are helped to achieve positive outcomes while still in the care system.

"CSCI is right to say that more research is needed to establish exactly which children should be placed in these homes and who is most likely to benefit.

"However we should listen to the voices of children and young people coming through loud and clear when they talk about the benefits of living in good single occupancy homes.

"It is unfortunate that Dame Denise Platt has expressed such strongly held personal views against this kind of provision.

"I wonder if she has herself ever visited a single occupancy home or spoken to children and young adults who have benefited so much from the experience.

"She would certainly be more than welcome to visit any of our children’s homes.

"This is the beginning, not the end, of a very important debate about how we help our most vulnerable children and young people and how much society is actually prepared to pay to ensure good outcomes."