North Yorkshire Care Overhaul Will 'Change Lives Forever'

North Yorkshire County Council are launching anew initiative to improve radically the life chances of some of the county’s most vulnerable and challenging young people.

The aim also is to reduce the numbers ending up either homeless or in the criminal system.

The county council is the first authority in the country to attract over £2m from the Department for Education’s Innovations Programme for rethinking care for adolescents.

The Government funding will be more than matched by over £4 million from the authority’s own resources for looked-after children, to develop this radical initiative over the next three years.

The programme is expected to reduce the county’s looked-after population from the current 446 to 400 and lead to a £2m year-on-year saving by also reducing the demand for expensive external residential placements, which cost an average £3250 per week.

Nearly half of young people who come into care are the victims of abuse or neglect; the other half experiences a mixture of acute family stress, family dysfunction and socially unacceptable behaviour.

Alongside this over 60 per cent face challenges with their emotional and mental health; up to 60 per cent have a speech, language and communication need; nearly 40 per cent have special educational needs and one third of adolescents who come into the care system have been recently cautioned or committed an offence.

According to the council the service will address the problems the care system faces with of lack of mental health support for vulnerable young people and foster placements, which frequently break down because of the young people’s challenging behaviour.

The No Wrong Door service will be centred on two hubs in the county, replacing all traditional council run children’s homes in North Yorkshire with a range of integrated provision.

Hubs will include residential care home beds; emergency residential beds; community foster family placements; supported accommodation and supported lodgings and outreach support. All professionals working in the hubs will be trained and work in common with a restorative and solutions-focused approach.

Luke Rodgers, a care leaver and Founder of Foster Focus, says: “The approach is great. A flexible model like this, offering an open door and wrap-around support for young people in care is what is needed.

"I also applaud the comprehensive training package it offers to key agencies and community members so that everybody understands the issues young people in care face. Hopefully this is also a system that will develop over time because it is open and will listen to the young people that use it.”