DORSET may undergo an about-turn in its policy over residential homes for children – opening, instead of closing them.

Over recent years all but one of the rural county’s residential homes have been shut with many troubled children switched to expensive units, sometimes hundreds of miles away, and often costing several thousands of pounds per child, per week.

The last two local homes to shut were run by the previous county council at West End House in Cattistock and Maumbury House on the Manor Park estate in Dorchester. Only the Cherries at Weymouth now remains open offering residential places. However, the site is expected to eventually be sold for housing, with a new unit built for the children currently cared for.

A report to councillors next week says that if the overall number of children in the care of the county can be reduced to 395 it would need to find 30-40 places in children’s homes in Dorset.

Part of the previous council’s strategy, continued by Dorset Council, has been to recruit additional foster carers to look after troubled young people. The last report on this admitted that progress had been slower than expected and it could still take a year, or more, to be anywhere near the necessary level.

In a paper to the Cabinet meeting on September 3rd, the council says that it is once again looking at finding more residential places within Dorset.

It claims this will be better for the children, being closer to home – possibly saving £600,000 in a year, compared to the cost of using external providers.

The report anticipates that once sites have been identified there should be a consultation with neighbours before a final decision. It suggests that these homes, or one home with attached units, may have to be council-run, or in partnership with an outside provider.

“Children and young people in care should have the right to be placed in a family setting, as first preference, but this is not always possible due the continued impact of past trauma, or because of the availability of the right match. In these circumstances, we wish to strengthen the role of residential provision as an intervention which prepares for the transition to a family placement or return home.

“Any success in increasing capacity in Dorset is predicated on the successful implementation of a strategy to reduce the overall number of children in care,” says a report to the cabinet meeting from director of children’s services, Sarah Parker.

The county currently has around 425 children in its care – an increase of 44 per 10,000 in 2013 to 63 per 10,000 in April 2019, exceeding both the national and regional increases. The figures put Dorset in the bottom ten local authorities in England for the number of children placed more than twenty miles from home.

In the current financial year, the council believes it will spend £11.1 million for residential care including secure accommodation, with an average annual cost of £242,575 per head.

Dorset Council currently has 178 children in external placements. Of these, which are out of county, 60% (101) are placed in authorities which border Dorset.

The issue is more acute for residential care: 46 children are in external placements, but only 3 of these are in Dorset. A further 21 are placed in neighbouring authorities.

“This is a poor outcome for the local authority as it adds to placement cost and to care planning and monitoring costs. It will also usually be a poor outcome for the young person as they are placed far from family and friends and experience disruption to their care, education and health provision. They will have less resilience and will potentially be more vulnerable to various forms of exploitation, including through county lines networks,” says the service director.

She says that work is already underway, including looking at buildings which the council owns, and anticipates action by January 2020.

Cabinet members are being asked to endorse the approach.