Children in Care Market Position Statement

We are committed to keeping children and young people with their families wherever it is safe to do so. Where a residential home is assessed as best meeting the needs of the child or young person, we are seeking for this to be within smaller homes of two to three bedrooms. We are not looking for any larger residential home provision to come into the local market.

We want to work with providers of children's residential homes in the Borough to develop a 'Stockton first' approach as, at times, we are placing children away from their local communities due to a lack of available places from provision rather than as a result of their needs. As at April 2024, 21 (42%) of the 50 placement capacity within externally delivered in-borough children's homes were for Stockton-on-Tees children.

It is challenging to find small or solo children's homes (both in and out of area) that can meet the needs of our children and young people with complex and multiple needs, particularly young teenagers with complex trauma, attachment, or mental health needs. We are carrying out work to determine the model of provision that will meet these needs.

There are limited options to support young people with disabilities who require residential provision at the age of 17 years. Short term placements are largely unavailable within the market and adult providers cannot legally accommodate the young person until they turn 18 years of age. We will be carrying out targeted engagement with the market to explore how we can deliver well planned, supported transitions for young people.