New children’s care homes will address ‘massive challenges’, meeting told

A meeting heard the new facilities would help addresses ‘massive challenges’ faced by local authorities in relation to child care provision.

Wakefield Council’s cabinet members agreed to a proposal to lease two additional properties to provide short-term emergency placements for up to six children.

The scheme also includes recruiting and training more staff to run the new premises.

The move comes after the number of children in care across the district rose almost 7% in a year.

According to a report, which said there was a “national crisis” in respect of sufficient placements, the number of children in care nationally reached 83,840 in March 2023, compared to 82,170 in March 2022.

Margaret Isherwood, cabinet member for children and young people, said: “We, as a council, have a statutory responsibility to provide accommodation of the right kind for our children in care.

“Let’s not forget these children in care often come from extremely difficult circumstances.

“We need to be able to address their individual needs as we move forward.

“Nationally and locally there are massive challenges over provision of placements.

“We have to look to address some of these challenges by introducing our own way of doing things.”

Coun Isherwood said previous similar council-run schemes to provide “bespoke” facilities for youngsters had been successful and received either a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ Ofsted rating.

She added: “We are confident that this model will drive better outcomes for the children concerned, both emotionally and in finding the right sort of care.

“By agreeing to this proposal we will continue our track record of improving our services for our children and their families in Wakefield in a cost-effective way.”

As of March 2024, there were 684 children in care in the Wakefield district – an increase of 6.8% compared to 639 a year earlier.

The report said Wakefield still had one of the lowest levels of children in care when compared to local authorities of a similar size.