Comment on Sir Martin Narey’s Review of Children’s...

Dave Hill, President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, said:

“For too long residential care has been seen as a placement of last resort but for some young people for whom fostering and adoption is unsuitable it can be the right placement option. We welcome Sir Martin’s thoughtful report, in which he recognises the generally good quality of care provided by many children’s homes across the country and some of the outstanding practice he has seen whilst undertaking his independent review. Many of Sir Martin’s recommendations have the potential to improve outcomes and achieve change for this cohort of vulnerable children; the development of Staying Close, focused on building independence for young people leaving care, is the right thing to do but this will need to be adequately funded by government. And I am sure the sector would be interested to adopt systems that provide the opportunity for more intelligent commissioning of placements.

“The recognition of the need to improve the status of the children’s residential sector and of the professionals working in this field is welcome and long overdue, as is the need for a fundamental review of foster care. Residential care is a subject which has been considered at length several times over recent years, but little action has been taken to act on the recommendations of reviews and research to date. We hope these recommendations will result in meaningful change and positively impact on the lives of children in care.”

ENDS

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