1. Profile of Children’s Residential Care in Wales
12th September 2018

2. Background
We were commissioned by the T&F Group for Residential Care under the Ministerial Advisory Group for improving outcomes for LAC
Aim to build a profile of children’s residential care in Wales
Project was part of a suite of work contributing to improving outcomes for LAC

3. What we did
The research tried to map existing residential care services for children and young people provision in Wales
Desk-based research and analysis
Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) information on registered care provision
Welsh Government’s LAC data collection
Children’s Commissioning Support Resource (CCSR)
Statement of purpose
Daffodil care services projections
Provider workshops/supplementary survey of provision

4. Research questions
What does the current residential placement provision for LAC in Wales look like?
What do we know about the detail of the provision e.g. the regional picture, specialist services, etc?
What do we know about the current LAC population and how does this map to provision?
What do we know about recent trends and what might this mean for the future?
What might be done to improve the evidence base?

5. Current residential provision for LAC
149 children’s homes and 11 residential special schools
665 beds in these children’s homes in 2017
Independent sector capacity has grown over the past 5 years, while local authority provision has decreased
Nine care providers own five or more settings, equating to around 65% of the registered homes in Wales
40% of beds in available in registered children’s homes were in short break/respite and disability only care settings

6. Children’s services provision in Wales - Trends
Source: Care Inspectorate Wales

7. Capacity of children’s homes – 5 year change
Source: Care Inspectorate Wales

8. Current residential provision for LAC
Registration information provides a useful starting point, we found differences between registered information and normal practice
Makes it difficult to provide a detailed profile
Statement of purpose analysis provides an insight into the categories of care and services offered
In conjunction with the survey, we were able to provide an indicative picture of the national and local provision
Spatial distribution across Wales…

9. Settings are clustered around the South East Wales near urban/built up areas where the populations are higher
Cluster in the North East of Wales, around the Wrexham area and along the English border into Powys
Notable absence of residential care provision for children in the central areas of Wales, the mid West and North West of Wales
Source: Care Inspectorate Wales

10. Residential service provision – the detail
Types of services offered
General therapeutic;
Disability;
Short break/respite care;
Sexually harmful behaviour;
Transition to independence; or
Emergency/crisis and assessment
Local and regional variation across Wales

11. Looked after children population – what is demand like?
Residential placements for LAC accounted for around 6% of all children placed
355 LAC placed in residential care in 2017 – stable for the past 5 years
Most LAC were aged 10 to 15 years
More males than females in residential placements, with a ratio of 60:40
Most common reason for child starting a placement in residential care was abuse and neglect, accounting for 48% of LAC starting residential placements

12. Mapping need to demand in children’s homes
Registered beds in care homes (excl. respite/disability) exceeds the number of children placed in residential care by Welsh authorities
Over 90 beds in residential care homes are occupied by children placed by authorities outside Wales
Using available information, mapping needs of LAC to service models offered by current provision is challenging. Additional information on the care needs of the child would make it easier
Regionally, Cwm Taf and Cardiff & Vale regions have a greater LAC population than the number of general therapeutic and specialist places available in these regions

13. Recent trends and the future of the LAC population
10-17 year old population is predicted to increase in future years, peaking in 2025 and falling back around 6% higher than the current population by 2035
If the trend in the population is mirrored in LAC numbers, most of the regions are projected to see children going into residential care over the next 18 years remain stable
Cardiff & Vale region are projected to experience an increase

14. Gaps in understanding Robustness of information available
Supplementary residential care provider survey
Services offered
What is normal practice?
Statement of purpose (SoP) documents
Impact of cross border placements?
English LAC in Welsh based care provision
Mapping this is difficult from current data sources
Affect on supply and demand

15. Improving the evidence base
Exploring the anomalies in the data
Need for a robust regular dataset showing care provision and services offered
Co-ordination of information and evidence with national partners

16. Other research commissioned by Ministerial Advisory Group
Feedback from the other 3 projects commissioned in the last phase of research projects
Evaluation of new and emerging models of care (Cordis Bright)
Extension of When I’m Ready to residential care (Voices in Care & Cognition Associates)
Good practice guidance on out of area placements (Brian Paget)

17. Future research Follow up recommendations: Data Cymru
Extension of phase 1 project: Brian Paget / Cordis Bright
When I’m Ready placements: market engagement
Remand placements: scoping & market feasibility
Diversion from Secure Welfare placements: options paper

18. Questions and discussion
Commissioners / placement finders
Aside from using CCSR:
How do you know what provision is in your area and beyond?
What are you current sources of information?
How do you keep aware of new provision / closing provision?
Do you know what services are offered by providers in your area?
As the market changes, how responsive are your sources?

19. Questions and discussion
Providers
How do you monitor what services are required by LAC in your area?
What sources of information are used to shape your models of care in Wales?
Appetite for contribution? (Good response to the survey in our research) What do you want in return?