Residential placements operating without regulation

We hear regularly from children’s services commissioners who are struggling to meet the needs of some of the most complex young people. They are concerned about being forced to use unregulated placements as a last resort, due to the lack of appropriate, viable and affordable regulated placements which can respond quickly and effectively. Minimising the frequency and negative impact of these placements is a key challenge for children’s services. Colleagues across the UK continue to explore how to address this.  BBC’s recent reporting has provided graphic descriptions of the challenge.

At IPC we think that there is tremendous value in ‘sharing approaches that work’.  As part of our ongoing knowledge exchange programme we plan to host a webinar giving colleagues the opportunity to compare practices and ideas.  Delivered in conjunction with children’s commissioners in the West Midlands region, but open to academic partners and commissioning course alumni with service improvement and commissioning responsibilities in local authorities across, this webinar will be an opportunity to:

• Discuss key components of a strategic approach to addressing commissioning and service delivery challenges for these placements.
• Share examples of approaches being taken in different parts of the country.
• Share preliminary findings from IPC’s research into unregulated placement in Wales
• Make links with colleagues to support your future work in this area.

The webinar will be highly interactive with plenty of chances to share and compare practice. It will be facilitated to create an open-minded, safe and creative opportunity for commissioners to share their concerns and emerging solutions.

Booking:

• ACADEMIC PARTNERS – booking forms will be emailed directly. If you have not yet received yours, please email ipc@brookes.ac.uk
• ALUMNI – booking forms are available via the Alumni Network Forum.