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ITEM EX13

EXECUTIVE – 7 DECEMBER 2004

CHILDREN’S RESIDENTIAL REVIEW: HOLLOW WAY, OXFORD

Report by Director for Social & Health Care

Introduction

1. Hollow Way Children’s Home is a 4-bedroom detached house with a small garden situated in East Oxford. The property provided a satellite unit to Thornbury House with the aim of helping young people move to leaving care provision. The house originally accommodated 3 young people.
2. The Care Standards Act and National Minimum Standards for residential care were introduced in April 2002. The inspection of the home in April 2003 and subsequent report from the Care Standards Commission was positive about the care provided.
3. The property has been rented for several years and the tenancy is scheduled to expire in June 2005. This report provides information about the home and makes proposals to undertake a consultation process with staff, young people, family and other agencies about future options for the home.

Background Information

4. Hollow Way has provided a valuable service to young people moving from a children’s home to a small semi-independent unit. The focus of the home has been to provide individual attention and care providing security whilst dealing with the transition from child to young person on to adult life.
5. The management of Hollow Way transferred from Thornbury House to Holme Leigh Children’s Home in 2003 to establish equitable and consistent management responsibilities across the children’s homes service. Staff working at Hollow Way are very experienced although recruitment and retention of management and practitioner staff has consistently proved difficult.
6. The Care Standards Commission expressed concern about the size of the building and in particular the number of bedrooms available to provide "sleeping in" facilities for staff. Although a small house providing up to three places, the Commission recommended increasing the staffing from 5 to 9 staff with continued support from the main unit at Holme Leigh. Because of the Commission’s concerns about the facilities at the house the numbers of children accommodated at any one time was reduced from 3 to 2 young people. This together with the need to increase the staffing ratio inevitably increased the unit costs.
7. The home has needed significant refurbishment to its décor and utilisation of rooms during the past year in order to provide appropriate safe care for the young people living there.

Financial Implications

8. The revenue budget for the Home is currently £408,000 pa, raising the cost of a full-time placement to £204,000 p.a for each child. Although the alterations to the home completed during 2004 have allowed an increase to 3 places, current occupancy is 2 young people. This together with the limited facilities at the home, raises the question whether this is the most effective or cost efficient way of providing placements. Alternative placements within the foster care service or residential care for the children currently placed at Hollow Way should be considered.

Options

9. There are three options to consider regarding the future of Hollow Way:


a. Maintain the unit providing up to 3 places

• High Cost
  
  
• The Commission for Social Care Inspection have only agreed to increase places/beds until 2007
• Ability to recruit and retain adequate management and practitioner staff
• Limited facilities available at Hollow Way due to the size of the building

b. Maintain the unit providing up to 2 places

• High Cost
• Selection of residents has to be carefully managed
• Ability to recruit and retain adequate management and practitioner staff

c. Close Hollow Way and reprovide placements for current residents with either foster carers or other residential facilities.

• Loss of skills from the current experienced workforce
• Small homes can and do provide better outcomes for young people
• A further reduction in residential placements in Oxfordshire from 20 places to 18
• Redeployment of staff, 3 of whom have recently been redeployed to Hollow Way following the closure of Thornbury House Secure Unit
• Redeployment opportunities in residential children’s homes is now limited
• Cost of reproviding placements for young people

10. The unit cost of a place at Hollow Way is expensive if occupancy is two young people. The weekly unit cost exceeds the average cost of other in-county children’s homes. A process of consultation with young people, parents and staff is proposed on the future of the Home.

RECOMMENDATIONS

11. The Executive is RECOMMENDED to:

1. authorise consultation with young people, parents, staff and other agencies on the future of Hollow Way;
2. ask the Head of Social Care for Children to report back to the Executive in February on the outcome of the consultation.

November 2004

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