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Our response to the government's social care reform proposals

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 …

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

An image of teenagers laughing together. Next to it text reads "Blog post: Supported accommodation – it can be right for some older children, but not for all"

Ahead of inspections starting next month, Yvette Stanley gives an update on our registration work and sets 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 …

Providing good experiences for children with complex needs

An image of a woman showing a child something on a laptop. Next to it, text reads "Blog post: Providing good experiences for children with complex needs"

***Update: we have also released a podcast on this topic*** In January, we published a new research report on children with complex needs in children’s homes. The report was based on a national survey of local authorities and children’s home …

The importance of good planning for children moving on from the secure estate

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: local authorities, secure children's home, secure estate, secure training centres
A teenage boy sitting by a window.

Effective planning for when children move on from secure provision is vital. Our role The children’s secure estate is a very important part of Ofsted’s work. Within Ofsted’s remit there are 13 secure children’s homes (SCH) and one secure training …

How the children’s social care reforms will affect inspection

The Department for Education (DfE) has published several documents as part of the children’s social care reforms: The National Framework and Children’s Social Care (CSC) dashboard Working Together to Safeguard Children (‘Working Together’) The kinship strategy A data and digital …

Ofsted's response to Stable Homes, Built on Love

Ofsted’s consultation response Last month Ofsted submitted its response to the government’s consultation Stable Homes, Built on Love. I am sure many of you did the same. There’s a lot in the proposals that we welcome. With additional resources and …

Consultation on a judgement for care leavers in our inspections of local authority children’s services

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: care leavers, children's services, inspection framework, local authorities
A group of care leavers

Yvette Stanley, our National Director for Social Care, discusses our proposal to inspect the experiences and progress of care leavers. In June we announced proposals to introduce a separate judgement about the experiences and progress of care leavers in our …

Foster Care Fortnight – 9 to 22 May 2022

Foster carer and child sat on sofa together.

Yvette Stanley, our National Director for Social Care, celebrates foster carers’ invaluable contribution to the lives of the children they care for. This Foster Care Fortnight, as ever, we take our collective hats off to all foster carers, for the …

Ofsted’s response to the Case for Change

Carer pushing smiling boy in a swing

The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care published its Case for Change on 17 June, having heard evidence from hundreds of people working with children and families, and from even more with lived experience of children’s social care. This builds on the huge response to its earlier calls for …