Bristol Council's Initiative to Bring Children Back Home

Strategic Insights -

Bristol City Council has made significant strides in bringing children from external care homes back into their families or foster homes within the city. The initiative, approved in May, aims to address the crisis of children in care homes, often run by companies owned by private equity firms that generate substantial profits. The council has allocated a team to review care plans and identify children who can be moved to family homes, resulting in the return of 33 children and saving taxpayers millions of pounds. Experts emphasize the benefits of keeping children with their families or foster carers, rather than in care homes.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Bristol City Council initiative has successfully brought back 33 children from care homes outside the city to their families or foster homes within the city, with a goal to save taxpayers millions of pounds.
  • The council has recruited several new staff, including specialist workers who will offer intensive interventions to families in crisis to prevent children being taken into care.
  • The team has worked with about 45 families over three or four months, focusing on building relationships and implementing intensive interventions to support families.
  • The initiative has led to the development of a team that can review care plans, identify potential for family reunification, and implement transitions to family homes within the city.
  • Foster carers can receive a grant to make their homes suitable for children in care and earn £1,000 a week under the Back to Bristol program if they take on children from care far away from the city.
  • The initiative aims to provide intensive support to families in crisis, offer a smooth transition for children moving to new foster homes, and improve long-term outcomes for children in care.

Statistics:

  • 33 children have been brought back to their families or foster homes within the city as part of the initiative.
  • The council has spent millions of pounds on care homes, with a portion going to companies owned by private equity firms.
  • The Back to Bristol program offers £1,000 a week to foster carers who take on children from care homes far away from the city.
  • 45 families have been worked with over three or four months as part of the initiative.
  • The program has seen significant savings for taxpayers, although exact figures have not been disclosed.

Sources:

  • "Several children in care homes outside Bristol brought back to live with families this summer" by Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporter
  • Report on Bristol City Council's Children and Young People Policy Committee meeting