The short survey covers a range of key issues facing residential child care including meeting children’s increasingly complex needs, changes to commissioning arrangements, the rising cost of placements and moves to boost the number of local authority-run settings.
The survey also asks whether proposals in the government’s recent strategy paper Keeping Families Safe, Helping Children Thrive to curtail profiteering by some private providers will be effective.
Derren Hayes, editor of CYP Now, said: “This is a crucial time for children’s residential care with key reforms to the sector being planned, tested and introduced this year and we want this survey to offer insight into the sector’s views on these.
“We are particularly keen for local authority commissioners and senior decisionmakers in children’s services to participate so we can better understand the challenges they face to provide sufficient, high-quality children’s home placements.”
Simon Hammond, chief executive of Hexagon Care Services, which is sponsoring the survey, said: “Despite unprecedented challenges: rising placement costs, a shortage of appropriate placements and significant financial strain, the children’s residential care sector has the opportunity to thrive. Collaborative partnerships and innovative solutions are the key to its transformation.”
There are 15 questions to answer and findings will be summarised in a report to appear in April’s edition of CYP Now published in print and online on 25 March.
The survey can be accessed by clicking here
It is open from Monday 3 February to Friday 28 February 2025.
