ADCS president O'Sullivan to champion Staying Put extension

Alison O'Sullivan, who took over from Alan Wood at the start of the month, said she would use her ADCS presidency to advocate for the Staying Put scheme, which enables young people to remain with their foster carers until they are 21 if they choose, to be extended to include children in residential care.

"In families we do not cut off children just because they reach a certain age, and as a mother of two sons in their 20s I know that young people have different support needs," O'Sullivan said at an ADCS event to mark the start of her tenure.

"Recent work commissioned by national charities scoped some models and estimated the cost at £80m, giving a sense of the scale of the investment needed.

"Of course it will be challenging and there are significant practical issues to overcome but I am convinced that the sector is up for it.

"We know that the vulnerability of young people looked after in residential care is greater than those in the care system as a whole so surely we should be seeking to do the best we can for these, the neediest children in our care."

In an interview with CYP Now last month, O'Sullivan signalled her support for the campaign to extend Staying Put rights to residential care, but admitted it would present "major changes" to how local authorities worked.

Last week, Scotland introduced legislation that raises the leaving care age to 21 for all children regardless of their care setting.

Other issues O'Sullivan, director of children's services at Kirklees Council, said would be priorities during her presidency include getting greater clarity on the role of local authorities around education improvement, helping the development of good-quality early years services, ensuring there remains a single point of accountability for all children, and reforming the inspection system.

Difficulties in recruiting and retaining social workers was another issue O'Sullivan highlighted. She said collaboration between councils over workforce development had worked well in Yorkshire and Humberside.

"But we also need to recognise and utilise the vital contribution of the wider workforce in children's services, the likes of our family support workers and youth workers," she added.