Mark Kerr, an expert in residential childcare, has been appointed interim chief executive with immediate effect following the retirement of his predecessor Peter Sandiford.
Clair Davies, who previously led Appletree Treatment Centre and specialises in therapeutic aspects of care, has been appointed chair of the CHA’s board, which is drawn from the organisation’s membership.
The board will now include a greater number of representatives from local authority, independent and charity run children’s homes who bring wide-ranging skills and expertise, the CHA has said.
Kerr said: “I am a passionate advocate of the residential childcare sector and believe that The CHA, with its membership focused on collaboration, innovation and sector leadership, is the platform that will drive important change in our sector and improve young lives.”
The changes come amid a sufficiency crisis in residential childcare and as government sets out to reform children’s social care following the publication of its response to the Care Review.
Ofsted’s latest annual report founds that more than three-quarters of local authorities say they have placed young people in unregistered children’s homes due to a lack of other suitable options.
Jennifer Robbins, The CHA’s head of policy and strategy, added: “Addressing the sufficiency challenges at the acute end of the care continuum, where we must provide the right specialised support for children and young people with the most devastating backgrounds and the most complex needs, is a priority for us all.
“Getting a grip of this part of our sector’s work and doing our best for these highly vulnerable children and young people will also help local authorities with the budget challenges they currently face. That’s why The CHA will continue to ensure that the lives of these most vulnerable children and young people are top of every agenda.”
The organisation has said its change in leadership also comes following continued growth in its membership of residential childcare providers across the local authority, independent and charity sectors.
It has also laid out its priorities for the coming year, designed to strengthen The CHA’s child-centred approach and ability to respond to significant current challenges in the residential childcare sector.
These include addressing underlying factors that are limiting the sector’s ability to respond to increasing demand and complexity of need, supporting sector responses to the workforce crisis and working with government to address planning permission barriers.
It also aims to improve society’s understanding of residential childcare.
Kerr added: “It seems that as a society we only have compassion for the most vulnerable children in society if we don’t have to live near them. This is sadly just one symptom of our society’s poor understanding of the role and reality of residential childcare, an issue that impacts on children and young people and the workforce who care for them in multiple ways. The CHA will be working hard to address this issue the year ahead.”
