Well said!

Thank you Joan, you could not have depicted the situation any better. Under 16s are usually placed in Supported Accommodation as a last resort. This is at a point where there is no other viable option.

I think that a solution has to be Local Authorities investing in and setting up residential homes once again. I know there is a legacy of horrendous abuse across the board when LAs owned and ran children’s homes. However, times have changed and there is a bit more scrutiny in the sector, that will hopefully mean children on these settings don’t have an awful experience like yesteryears!

Like it! I wondered what if anything David Howe would offer on the issues of sexualised attachment ~ this was by far the most difficult to tease out in Foster Care placements where the relationships had been left unchecked with devastating impact and nothing gets done despite sw’s having concerns!

The wry life of the IRO, eh! How independent should they really be?

Equally, important though are the parameters of Ofsted and whether or not, as happened with the CQC, they are given delegated or transferred powers from the Competition and Mergers Authority ~ it’s a seriously omission and seriously grey area.

The provisions within s174-s177 of the Company’s Act 2006 are, now, vital discovery and disclosure information ~ who’s looking at this and what powers does it afford and by who?

But LA’s have to care for them somewhere. With no foster care spaces, no supported lodgings and regulated residential homes taking younger less challenging YP what is the alternative?

When some young people go to these supported accommodation, it is due to Children Services finding difficulty in placing these high end young people, as certain providers, residential settings are not willing to accept these young people. Sometime informaton that comes from the social Services is not entirely clear about the young person’s needs until being placed. Social services go on to critiscise the providers when the Supported Accommodation are reporting that they are unable to meet their needs and this can cause conflict between providers and Children Services.

There is clearly a gap in provision, which needs to be addressed, rather than blaming supported accommodation for taking these young people, The Local Authority are the ones requesting these placements, as their hands are also tied as to where to place them. There needs to be a more joint up approach in how to link the services with the needs of the young people that are more high end and perhaps more thought need to be given on how to support the placements.

There are some supported accommodation, where the support is exemplar to none and some good work has been achieved by those establishments with the most challenging young people.
This is achieved by developing those needed relationship with young people, building trust and setting clear boundaries, supporting them in different ways and being creative with how work is being undertaken with them. This is not because someone has a degree, or a masters, but because those individuals know how to work and manage young people and build relationship. These skills sometimes are not from a theory, its being human first, and having a relationship. its lived experiences that make the best workers.

After all Supported accommodation normally get the young people at the point when so much damage has been done, where there have been so much failings in the system for these young people. It takes certain skills to be able to support young people on a path back to where they can meet their full potential, whether that is in education, training or employment. Some sadly are not going to get there as the damage is too great, but all we can do is continue to work with the ones who want change and have not allowed their situation to define their outcome, and I have found sometimes initially young people don’t know they want change until that relationship has been established and the conversations have started and that is the real skill we need in our workers.