Placements for children in care costing over £0.5million per year are increasing in England, causing significant concern and financial strain on local authorities, with little improvement in outcomes for children.
Placements for children in care costing over £0.5million per year are increasing in England, causing significant concern and financial strain on local authorities, with little improvement in outcomes for children. The high needs of these young people often indicate missed opportunities for earlier intervention and previous placement
instability, risking further trauma to children who have already disproportionately experienced abuse and neglect.
This research, commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA) and conducted by the National Children’s Bureau (NCB), explores the drivers behind high cost placements and provides actionable recommendations.
Key Findings and Recommendations
- Relational Commissioning: Foster strong relationships between local authorities and providers. Open communication channels and mutual respect can lead to better outcomes for children and more effective use of resources. Senior leadership in children’s services should engage in provider events and conversations alongside commissioners to have a clear understanding of the challenges and opportunities in the sector.
- Enhanced Early Identification: This includes regular health and developmental checks, as well as exploring more effective multi-agency engagement with the dynamic support register (DSR).
- Integrated Care Models: Invest in integrated models of care between local authorities, local providers and the NHS to provide in-depth and wraparound personalised support for children and young people with complex needs including therapeutic models, specialist foster carers and on-site therapeutic education services.
- Increase Funding for Preventative Services: Explore the opportunity to invest in preventative services, that can help address the root causes of escalating needs leading to high-cost placements, including through the DfE prevention grant and as part of the implementation of an integrated.
- Flexible emergency provision: amend regulations to establish a robust approach to ensuring that, where there is no safe alternative to a child or young person being placed in an unregistered setting offered by trusted providers, due to unplanned or emergency placement.
Download the full report
- Published by:
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LGA
- Reference code:
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73.6