Industry News: Third of Under-18s Moved to Independent Settings Within a Week of Entering Care, Figures Show

More than 2,000 16- and 17-year-olds moved into independent or semi-independent accommodation within a week of entering care last year, Ofsted data shows.

The statistics show that 32 per cent of all older teenagers in care live in independent or semi-independent accommodation which does not provide care.

Of these 5,890 16- and 17-year-olds, 37 per cent moved into a semi-independent placement in their first week of being in care in the year to 31 March 2021.

Some 32 per cent moved into independent accommodation within a week of entering care in the same time period.

The statistics, which are released by the Department for Education on an ad-hoc basis, show that the figures are slightly lower than those reported in 2019 with 39 and 37 per cent of children of all ages moving into semi-independent and independent accommodation within a week of entering care respectively.

However, in September 2021 - between the two data releases - the government introduced a ban on the use of such settings for all children under the age of 16.

Campaigners have since called for a complete ban on the use of independent and semi-independent accommodation for all children in care up to the age of 18, arguing that using such settings increases a child’s risk of exploitation, isolation and poor mental health.

According to Ofsted’s latest statistics, 69 per cent of 16- and 17-year-olds living independently and 70 per cent living in semi-independent accommodation in the year to 31 March 2021 were doing so under a voluntary agreement.

A report published by Nuffield Family Justice Observatory last year shows the number of 10- to 17-year-olds subject to care proceedings rose by 95 per cent between 2011/12 and 2019/20.

Over the same time period, the number of 15-year-olds subject to care proceedings grew by almost 150 per cent, and 16-year-olds by 285 per cent.

Meanwhile, the proportion of older teenagers living in independent and semi-independent accommodation who were unaccompanied asylum-seeking children was almost double the proportion of 16- and 17-year-olds across all care settings.

In the year to March 2021, 32 per cent of 16- and 17-year-olds living independently and 34 per cent of those living in semi-independent accommodation arrived to the UK as an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child compared with 18 per cent of all 16- and 17-year-olds in care. 

Ofsted is set to begin inspecting independent and semi-independent accommodation in April next year, the inspectorate’s director of social care Yvette Stanley told delegates at the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) annual conference last week.

National Standards for such accommodation are due to be published later this year, with Stanley saying they will be based around providing “kind and caring” homes for young people.

Commenting on the latest Ofsted statistics, Jonathan Stanley, manager at the National Centre of Excellence for Residential Child Care, said: "The statistics show that the supported accommodation sector is now broadly as large as that for children's homes."

He also raised concerns over the cost of such placements which are as high as "five figure sums per week", according to Stanley.

"This has to be understood as a new sector. Speedily, it needs closely observing and managing. The recent National Contracting and Commissioning Training Conference heard it will take Ofsted two years to set up registration and begin regulation of this new supported accommodation sector. It needs urgent transitional arrangements for both regulation and procurement/commissioning.

"The CMA and others have shown that we need a more effective and efficient mechanism than a market. For a mechanism to operate effectively takes three things: a good balance of power between those seeking and providing placements; good data, so all the options are known; availability. It can be done."

Source:
www.cypnow.co.uk

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