CS003 - Proposal to Reduce Children's Residential Care Costs

Overview

Outline of Proposal

It is proposed through improved service delivery and targeted support that a cost saving can be made in the costs of external placements and by reducing the number of looked after young people in the older age group.

General Impact

The impact of this proposal is to focus delivery of services on assessed need.  In the longer term this will deliver reduced costs and better outcomes to address the risk of family breakdown and support placement stability, by preventing older young people coming into care when this can be avoided through other forms of support, and reduce the number of placement moves for those already in care.

Impact on Service Users

It is expected that young people on the edge of care will be provided with more flexible support and intervention that better meets their needs and prevents the need for separation from their family. 

There may be positive impacts for looked after children and young people if they are able to achieve placement stability by remaining in their current placements and prevented from repeated placement moves.

Additional provision and support close to home in the borough will reduce the number of children and young people who need to be cared for further away from their family and friends.

Savings Total: 
£100,000 on-going saving in 2015/16
£100,000 on-going saving in 2016/17

The Council is assessing the potential equality impact which the proposals may have and are undertaking full Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) where this is appropriate.The EIAs are draft working documents which are to be developed over time.

This means that as further detail becomes available through the consultation process the EIAs will be updated and finalised before a final decision is reached.

You can find the full proposal document, which includes the Equality Impact Assessment, below in the related documents section.