Council to re-consider Children's Homes closure

Councillors at  Devon County Council have voted in favour of reconsidering the decision to close the authority's three children’s homes at a special scrutiny meeting.

The now over-turned decision to close the homes was made following a review which concluded last month and will be discussed at a council meeting on Wdnesday.

The review of the homes, launched in January, was started in light of new regulations from Ofsted which indicated that any children’s home with more than three places will be unable to qualify for a good or better rating in future.

An alternative proposal for the council to continue its work to secure and support increased capacity within its Fostering Services, support Foster Carers as well as work closely with independent and voluntary sector providers to develop specialist capacity was then suggested.

As the review launched two of the homes, Birchen Lane in Tiverton and Rifford Road in Exeter, had stopped accepting new admissions into the home due to concerns over around children’s safety.

The Birchen Road home in Tiverton was closed after concerns were raised about the potential sexual exploitation of residents outside the home while Placements to the Rifford Road home were suspended last year following very severe criticism by Ofsted, which found the home inadequate in every aspect.

Cllrs in the scrutiny meeting also cited a review by children’s charity Barnardos which had also raised considerable concerns over the safety of the children in the Birchen Lane home and was critical of the Rifford Road home.

Portions of the review quoted in council’s consultation documents said that while Birchen Lane had a child focused culture and good standard of care “there are fundamental concerns relating to Birchen Lane’s location and serious risks presented to young people, particularly girls, from sexual exploitation within the local community.”

On Rifford Road the Barnardo’s review warned that: “Very Careful consideration needs to be given to whether there is value in sustaining Rifford Road Community home. There are concerns overall that the level of change needed at Rifford Road to affect the improvements needed will not be achievable.”

Cllr Mumford said at the scrutiny meeting today that the results of the reports as well as consultation with Police, who were conducting a investigation into the Birchen Road home, meant that  ‘re-opening’  the homes was inadvisable.

Cllr Mumford continued that both homes are now ‘in affect’ closed as neither home is currently housing any more looked after children.

However Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors have said the decision to close the homes was rushed and did not take into account the needs of many of the county’s most vulnerble children.

Several councillors argued that the Council’s third home, Blossom corner in Exeter which is rated as 'Good' by Ofsted, was playing a much needed role among some looked after children.

The Barnardos review praised the home but went on to say: "Decisions need to be made about the home's purpose and function, and where this fits with any other changes made in Devon."

Labour Group Leader Cllr Richard Westlake said he thought that the whole process was too rushed, he said: “There are important issues at stake here and the care of vulnerable young people must be given proper consideration.

“I am very concerned that this decision is not in the interest of Devon’s looked-after children and could be judged to be in breach of the council’s duties as corporate parents.  We also need to establish what Devon-wide capacity we should have for these children, as it has been contended that instead of closing homes we should probably have four separate sites across the county. 

“This would mean that we would have enough places to cope with a lock-down situation and also be able remove affected individuals from their families for their own safety.”

Cllr Rob Hannaford,Vice Chair of the People Scrutiny Committee added: “Closing all three children's homes and keeping no council-run facilities will mean using privately-run children's homes and very possibly sending children out of Devon, or relying on a small number of 'super foster families’ who may be already dealing with other serious pressures such as multiple sibling placements. ”

Cllr Andy Hannan, member of the People Scrutiny Committee added: “Arguments for retaining Blossom Corner children’s home are particularly strong and clear, including its excellent track record in terms of Ofsted inspections and its ‘homely’ environment, which even the council considers makes it well suited for providing smaller scale care.  The council has also recognised that this home is well run with a highly committed staff group that has a strong focus on achieving the best possible outcomes for young people.

“Overall, in terms of cost the difference is not great between Blossom Corner and an equivalent independent-sector home in providing for these children who have complex needs and who often present with difficult behaviour.  However, the loss of an in-house highly skilled and experienced professional team is a price too high to pay. 

“The council needs to rethink this decision in the interests of some of the most vulnerable children in its care.”

Young people who were consulted with facilitation by DCC Participation and Democracy Development Team were asked to share their experiences and thoughts on DCC children’s homes.

30 young people, aged between 12 and 20, several of whom had lived in the homes took part in the consultations from across North Devon and Exeter.

Youth workers involved in the work summarised the response in a written report to Councillors, The report reads: “Many young people have had negative experiences in children’s homes and the quality of care has at times been poor.

“However, I'm not sure that young people think the best answer is to close them all down.

“Young people spoke quite eloquently on how children’s homes should be used as emergency placements and only as very short term placements for when young people aren't ready to be placed in a family, or when their needs/behaviour needs specialist support.

“The young people suggested that this would help with placement stability by enabling the young people the time to express their views on where they would like to live as well as enabling staff to better assess the needs of the young people and therefore match them more accurately with carers”. 

A final decision on the future of the homes is due be discussed by the council’s cabinet tomorrow.