Many Children Placed in Homes Far Away From Their Families Amid National Sufficiency Challenge
                     Ofsted Press Release: Many Children 
Placed in Homes Far Away From Their 
Families Amid National Sufficiency 
Challenge.
CLOUDOC
An Ofsted report published on July 8th, 2022 suggests that there aren't enough 
suitable places to keep children in care close to home.
Children in the care system are often placed in homes far away from their families 
because of a lack of suitable places local to where they live. This is according to 
Ofsted's research. As Ofsted's report shows, children who experience mental health 
problems, abuse, and neglect are likely to live the furthest from their homes before 
coming into care. This is above the average distance of 36 miles. 
Research suggests that children are living far from their families since homes are not 
evenly distributed across the regions of England. For example, just 5% of England’s 
children’s homes (7% of places) are in London, but London local authorities placed 
11% of all children in homes. In contrast, local authorities in the North West placed 
19% of children in children's homes, with 25% of all homes (23% of places) in the 
region.
Yvette Stanley, Ofsted’s National Director for Children’s Social Care, said: 
‘Today’s research shows this is a national challenge. It suggests that local authorities 
make a difficult choice between placing a child in a home close by or in one far away 
though relevant to its needs. Children need the right kind of care at the right time in 
the right place. And for some children, it will only be through a better needs analysis 
and planning across health and social care at a national level. This will enable them 
to stay closer to their family and friends.’
Ofsted's research aims to contribute to the broader conversation around why there 
may be barriers to achieving sufficiency of places in children's homes.
Other findings in the report include:
There was no correlation between the types of needs homes said they could 
accommodate and their subsequent Ofsted inspection grades.
There is a very high proportion of children living in children's homes with special 
educational needs (80%), compared with all children looked after (52%), and all 
children (approximately 15%).
A majority of homes (80%) said they could accommodate two or more areas of need, 
while one-fifth (20%) said they could only accommodate one.
Almost 93% of providers claimed to be able to accommodate children with complex 
needs, whereas only 4% claimed to be able to accommodate children with sensory 
impairments and 5 % claimed to be able to accommodate children with complex 
health needs.
In the report, 83% of children's 
homes were privately owned on 
31st March 2020, which marked an 
increase of 69% from the same 
date in 2016.
Cloudoc ensures your care home is safeguarded according to the standards 
and regulations that are relevant to your business. Our 
children's home safeguarding policy is reviewed and updated regularly by 
our professional and experienced policy writers and administrators to 
ensure that it meets changes and variations in the legislative framework. 
To know more, visit us now.
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