social care regulation

Prioritising social care registration applications: putting the needs of children and young people first

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: children's homes, local authorities, looked after children, social care professionals, social care regulation
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Following an unprecedented and sustained rise in applications to register children’s homes, on Thursday 18 September, we published our revised policy for prioritising children’s homes applications. The revised policy sets out the criteria for urgently dealing with applications. In short, …

The Families First Partnership programme: new guide and how this affects ILACS

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: children's services, inspection framework, local authorities, safeguarding, social care regulation
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As part of the children’s social care reforms, the Department for Education (DfE) has published its Families First Partnership (FPP) programme guide. The guide is aimed at safeguarding partners who are implementing reforms around family help, multi-agency child protection and …

Changes to our SCCIF guidance to improve stability for vulnerable children

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Next month, we will be making a small number of changes to our social care common inspection framework (SCCIF). These are mainly aimed at children’s homes and fostering agencies. The changes are intended to encourage more providers to look after …

Setting up provision for children with the most complex needs – tips, reassurance and a new advice form

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It is often a struggle to find the right social care provider for children with the most complex needs. We want to help those wanting to open provision for them, and commissioners that are looking for suitable homes. So, we …

Unregistered children’s homes: too many vulnerable children are placed at risk

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: children's services, looked after children, safeguarding, social care regulation
A child sits alone hugging their knees. Next to them, text reads: "Blog post: Unregistered children’s homes: too many vulnerable children are placed at risk"

We have published our new analysis of the concerning rise in the use of unregistered children’s homes. Last year, we opened over 1,000 cases to investigate potential unregistered settings. Why are we concerned? Some of the most vulnerable children are …

Our response to the government's social care reform proposals

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: children's homes, children's services, local authorities, looked after children, multi-agency, secure children's home, social care professionals, social care regulation
A woman is filling in a form. Next to it text reads "Blog post: Our response to the government's social care reform proposals"

The Department for Education (DfE) has published a policy paper on its proposals to reform children’s social care. This is a significant opportunity for the government, the sector and Ofsted to better serve the nation’s most vulnerable children. We have …

Inspections of supported accommodation: information for supported lodgings hosts

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: inspectors, social care regulation, supported accommodation
A woman is talking to a man at her front door. Next to it text reads "Blog post: Supported accommodation – it can be right for some older children, but not for all"

From September 2024, Ofsted will inspect registered services that provide supported accommodation for looked after children and care leavers aged 16 or 17. We want to make sure that services are helping young people and keeping them safe. And we …

Supported accommodation – it can be right for some older children, but not for all

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: care experienced, local authorities, social care regulation, supported accommodation
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In this blog, we give an update on our registration work and set out some ‘red lines’ when considering supported accommodation as an option for looked-after children and care leavers. Ofsted’s registration of supported accommodation providers It’s now more than …

How the children’s social care reforms will affect inspection

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Care Review, children's homes, children's services, kinship care, local authorities, social care regulation

The Department for Education (DfE) has published several documents as part of the children’s social care reforms: This blog will give some early views on what these will mean in practice and how they will affect inspection. We know you …

Registering children’s homes – principles and hints and tips

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Applying to register a children’s home is a serious step. It is right that there are exacting standards to meet, but we want the process to work well. The following hints and tips should help you with a smoother application. …