Special Report: Residential Child Care

The narrative on residential child care over the past 12 months has been overwhelmingly positive: a government-commissioned review backed the vital role it plays in supporting particularly troubled young people, the latest round of Ofsted inspections found a large rise in the proportion of homes rated "good" or better, and there have been policy initiatives that promise to improve standards further.

This positive outlook, however, is tempered by increasing evidence that the residential care market is not working financially and could be on the verge of crisis. In addition, questions are being raised over whether local authorities have the budgets to invest in children's home places providing intensive support to meet young people's increasingly complex needs.

With the number of children living in residential child care on the rise and increased emphasis put on making homes therapeutic and caring environments, there are signs that the sector could lose its tag as being the option of last resort.

For that to happen, policymakers must find a way of bringing home operators and councils together to develop additional high-quality, financially sustainable provision.

CYP Now's special report on residential child care assesses latest policy developments, summarises recent research shaping the sector and highlights four examples of innovative practice delivered by a range of providers.

Click on these article links for more:

Residential Child Care: Policy Context

Residential Child Care: Research Evidence