NCB have analysed the opportunities and challenges in the Department for Education’s new approach to regulating supported accommodation for young people aged 16 and 17 who are in or leaving care, set out recently by DfE.
For too long now, over a third of the 16- and 17-year-old young people in the care system have been subject to decisions made to place them in variable quality, unregulated independent and semi-independent settings. NCB believes there is an urgent need to address the current situation for young people living in these settings where they are not safe or where their needs have not been fully considered in placement decisions.
That is why we are working with local authorities and providers in the sector to ensure that there is a sufficient balance between improving outcomes for young people and improving the quality of settings, without overburdening an already struggling system. We believe that incremental change is the only realistic path to the longer-term step-change in the standards and expectations for this group of young people.
NCB also sees a critical role for the wider systems of care and support for young people in and leaving the care system, not only to ensure sufficient provision is available to meet needs for care and support and to keep young people safe, but also to effectively prepare young people for fulfilling adult lives. However, this journey does not start at 16, but as early as possible as it should for all young people regardless of their circumstances.
This means that the whole system of support from the point at which a child or young person comes into care should have a shared understanding of and commitment to enabling young people to thrive into adulthood.
What does the Guide say?
- Sets out the key principles and Quality Standards for the new regime
- Acknowledges that in order to make effective and appropriate placement decisions based on individual needs local authorities will need to consider sufficiency across the foster care, children’s home and supported accommodation landscape.
- States that supported accommodation should not be seen as the default choice for 16- and 17-year-olds, clarifying that supported accommodation would generally not be appropriate for a young person with complex or higher needs.
- Addresses the challenge of the nuance in relation to the spectrum of support through to care and noting that supported accommodation is part of this continuum.
What are the opportunities?
The Ofsted registration process creates a robust initial approach, including visits to settings and conversations with young people, which is critical in driving up standards in supported accommodation. We think that the registration approach will address the urgent requirement to understand and implement the changes so that young people should be able to consistently expect high quality support in their homes.
Furthermore, Stable Homes, Built on Love, sets out the range of action that the Government intends to take in relation to improving outcomes for young people, some of which are particularly relevant to improving outcomes for young people living in supported accommodation.
What are the challenges?
The scale of transformation necessary across the social care system means that a complex and interdependent landscape of implementation and improvement programmes will be running in parallel.
The key principles and new Quality Standards are an important next step in improving a series of critical issues in supported accommodation provision, however it will be a challenge to implement these changes at pace, in a sector where one of the key issues is variable quality,. Providers and local authorities will also need to be alert to the particular needs of UASC, young people experiencing homelessness, and those in the youth justice system.
The Sector Awareness and Provider Preparedness programme
NCB intends to use the opportunity of the Sector Awareness and Provider Preparedness programme to share insights and learning, gathered through the sector intelligence elements of the programme and the extensive activities planned to support Providers to prepare for registration. We will be able to identify where registration and adherence to the standards is improving experiences of young people and where the gaps in the system remain - and use this learning to inform both the wider social care change programme and the next steps in relation to the review of Care Standards.
You can read the full analysis here.
You can find out more about the Sector Awareness and Provider Preparedness programme here.