An independent group of residential care providers is to meet with government officials to urge them to clarify how the forthcoming Children in Care Bill will meet the needs of children with complex behavioural problems.
Members of the Children's Services Development Group have concerns about how the needs of these children will be met by the Bill, since the Department for Children, Schools and Families is seeking to reduce out-of-area care placements.Speaking on behalf of the development group, David Savage, chief executive of Castlecare Group, said local services may not be able to provide treatment for children with the most complex needs and that placement by postcode may not suit them."Children with the greatest level of complexity all need highly specialist programmes to get through that particular time in their life. That programme may only be available out of county," he said. "If social workers are restricted to local placements, do children with the greatest need receive the programme of care they need?"The group, whose members also include the Cambian Group, Foster Care Associates, Priory Group, Senad and Hesley Group, has a clear idea of what should be done."We would like to have highly professional social workers who have a clear insight into a young person's complex needs and have the ability to place these children with an organisation or in a school or residential home that can actually meet those needs," said Savage.The meeting with the children's department is due to take place in about two weeks' time and the Bill is due to be published later this year.Kevin Gallagher, director of operations at the Bryn Melyn Group, which also caters for children with complex behavioural problems, agrees that a local placement is not always the best decision."In terms of complex emotional trauma and in order for a young person to be able to do the necessary therapeutic treatment work, quite often distance from where these events have taken place can actually create a degree of emotional distance and emotional safety that allows the work to start," he said."As with any health issue, sometimes if you want to go and see a specialist you have to travel for it. You don't need to do that all the time but when it's right, it's the right thing to do."The Bill will reform the legal framework of the system for children in care. It will give local authorities the power to test social work practices, increase the focus on the quality of care planning, improve the stability of placements and ensure schools are equipped to deal with children in care.
