NCB to continue its work on residential child care to improve
outcomes for children
Wednesday 9 June 2010
Following the news earlier in the year that
government funding for NCERCC (the National Centre for Excellence
in Residential Child Care) had been lost, NCB is delighted to
announce that it will however be able to continue its long-standing
work supporting the residential child care sector to improve the
experiences and outcomes for children in their care, with a new
service called NCB Residential Child Care (NCBRCC).
Jonathan Stanley, who will lead the new service, said: ‘With
NCBRCC we have an opportunity to carry on supporting the whole
residential child care sector in their work, including local
authorities, voluntary and private, care, education and health
organisations. There has been an enormous acknowledgement of the
depth and range of the knowledge we bring direct to individual
settings. It has both supported the National Minimum Standards
compliance, but also importantly encouraged needs-led creative work
with children. We have been greatly boosted by the hundreds of
messages received from the sector detailing the benefits they have
gained from NCERCC, as a model of the significant improvements in
outcomes that can be made by sector-led support.
‘With NCBRCC we will continue our work of translating policy
into effective practice, making a real difference to children and
practitioners and continue to advocate for the voices of children
in residential child care to be heard and for their needs to be
addressed.
‘The sector repeatedly tells us that without services like
NCERCC and NCBRCC, partnership working would be much harder and
more isolated, and that these services help residential child care
to be recognised, respected and listened to as a profession, with
consequent outcomes and opportunities for the young people in our
care being raised significantly.’
Stanley, with the help of associates, others in the sector and
colleagues in NCB will undertake the following activities:
- Provide members of the Children’s Residential Network (CRN)
with a quarterly bulletin of policy, research and practice, while
seeking to secure additional funds to boost the range of
activities, such as the regional meetings, for CRN members
- Continue to make available and promote NCERCC's wealth of
downloadable and print materials. The NCERCC website will be
renamed and continue to be enlarged.
- Develop and promote a consultancy and training offer utilising
in-house staff and associates to deliver work
- The NCBRCC conference in November will take forwards the
successful NCERCC format and this year’s conference is already
planned for November 3rd in London
- Deliver contracts/commissions already secured
- Respond to ad hoc opportunities to tender and develop ideas for
speculative bids to Charitable Trusts
- Undertake a pro-active assessment of longer-term potential for
growth and development and pursue opportunities for activities and
funding.