Residential Care: The strategic approach

The commissioning of residential care places is one of the most pressingchallenges facing social care managers. Not only do their best effortscontinue to be dogged by poor outcomes for looked-after children, costscontinue to spiral as well. The cost of caring for looked-after childrenis getting the blame for much of the 1.5bn overspend expected incouncils this year.

In March, Lord Filkin, the then Parliamentary under secretary of statefor children and families, announced that he was to ask councils toreview the number of looked-after children placed outside theirauthority. "I'm depressed that we are having to teach grandmothers tosuck eggs. Local authorities are substantial corporate bodies and theyspend a lot of money on this area," he said. (Children Now, 9-15 March).And Kent council's decision to discourage independent fosteringplacements as it felt it was "poor practice to place children away fromhome" and to ask the Government to reimburse the extra costs thatlooked-after children from outside the county placed on services hasprovoked a furious backlash from the providers in question (ChildrenNow, 25-31 May).