Children placed in residential homes rated good or outstanding
West Sussex is committed to seeking the best possible outcomes for the children placed in children’s homes, and therefore seeks to place the great majority of children in homes which are ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’.
Children’s homes may be directly managed by the Local Authority, or by an independent, for profit company, or a voluntary organisation. The majority of children in the care of West Sussex are placed with independent companies. The arrangements for the registration and inspection of homes are the same, no matter which type of organisation manages the home.
The homes are inspected at least once a year, and can receive four possible ratings - outstanding; good; requires improvement; or inadequate. The first three indicate that a home has met, or exceeded, or the required standards. ‘Inadequate’ means that a home has failed to meet some, or all, of the standards required.
March 2021 performance
Monitoring of this measure has been suspended due to the Covid-19 virus which resulted in the suspension of Ofsted inspections.
The
overall figure in June 2020 remains above the long-term target and shows a small improvement
from the last quarter. There are now only two children placed in homes which
are not ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’, out of a total of 117 placements.
The breakdown of the current figure is that 24.8% of children in residential care are placed in homes rated as ‘outstanding’; 73.5% are placed in homes rated as ‘good’, and 1.7% of children are placed in homes rated as ‘requires improvement to become good’. There continues to be no children placed in homes rated as ‘inadequate’.
There continues to be significant pressure on placement numbers, and placements have had to be sought at a distance from WSCC. However, the standard overall for our placements remains very high, and in excess of the national picture.
If homes are below the required standard, we will actively support them to improve their practice in order that they receive a higher rating at the next inspection. The target relates only to the annual inspection, not the interim inspections where these occur.