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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
We know that 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 with a …
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 …
UPDATE - 01/02/24 This blog post was originally published in February 2023 but the information on how we use the survey results, and why it is important, remains relevant. The 2024 survey runs from Monday 5 February 2024 and closes …
2022 saw the publication of several reviews looking at the children’s social care sector. The Care Review, the Competition and Markets Authority market study, and the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel all made major recommendations for reform. In our own …
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 …