Feedback on plans to close a children’s home and place more young people with families has been published.
The consultation findings show that over half of respondents back Leicestershire County Council’s proposal to shut Greengate House in Wigston, where there is currently one resident.
This would save £400,000 a year, helping the council to reduce its spend on residential care for children who require intensive support. Instead - and in keeping with national and local policy – it will provide family placements, supported by skilled staff.
A total of 164 responses were received from children in care, care leavers, former care home residents, local residents, staff and agencies during the six-week consultation which ended on 20 December.
The consultation responses show that:Our priority is providing the best possible care for vulnerable young people.
Person:Councillor Ivan Ould, cabinet member for children and families
Since 2012, we’ve focused on placing more children with families, and want to bolster this approach. We value the skills of Greengate’s staff extremely highly and are keen for them to contribute to this.
A rise in the number of young people requiring specialist care is increasing costs and it’s vital we tackle this growing spend.
- 56 per cent of people agree with the proposal, generally because of the type of building or its running costs.
- 29 per cent disagree, mainly because of concerns about availability or suitability of alternatives provision
- 15 per cent gave no opinion
The consultation feedback will be discussed by the council’s Children and Families Scrutiny Committee next Monday (18 January) - read the report. A final decision is due to be taken by the council’s cabinet in February.
The proposal involves:
- Closing Greengate House from April 2016 – this would only happen after the current resident has moved into other accommodation. If it closes, alternative uses for the building, or selling it, would be explored.
- Continuing to recruit extra foster carers
- Recruiting and supporting specialist foster carers who can provide very specialist care required - the skills and expertise
- of Greengate House staff are valuable and it’s anticipated their experience will contribute to this