Introduction
Foster carers, residential and supported accommodation providers and Council staff work together sharing the responsibility of promoting and safeguarding the health and welfare of children and young people who are looked after by the local authority.
All staff and carers work with and look after, some of our most vulnerable children and young people. Where possible, children who require homes are matched with a foster carer’s skills and location. The aim is to keep them in their local communities and schools. Some young people in care live in residential homes or when they are older in supported accommodation before they move on to live independently.
Time with parents and wider family is positively promoted where appropriate. There is a high emphasis placed on the importance of education and healthy lifestyles for all of of our children in care and care leavers.
Sufficiency Strategy for Children Looked After and Care Leavers - 2023 to 2028
There is nothing more important than our responsibility as corporate parents.
The document below, which you can download, shapes the way we commission and deliver accommodation-related support for our children looked after and care leavers. We want this to be a practical document that shares our future direction, identifies gaps and ways in which we can work more collaboratively in the future.
The Children’s Act 1989 places a duty on councils to “take steps that secure, so far as reasonably practicable, sufficient accommodation within the authority’s area” to support children looked after. This can be across a number of different settings, such as
- family homes through foster carers
- children’s homes
- residential schools
- supported accommodation for young people aged 16 and over
