That’s why Swindon Council has pulled off a remarkable double to do right by the country’s most vulnerable children. They recently approved an initial £700,000 budget to set up a new children’s home. This effort aims to bring those services to children in your community. Almost all of them are presently placed out-of-county because Swindon has no services to house them.
The council’s published record includes the stated goal of decreasing the number of children placed outside their home borough. This decision is an important component of that effort. Swindon Council is presently recruiting just 130 homes for its vulnerable children. They end up out of area because there just isn’t the specialist support and foster placements needed within Swindon. Once completed, the new home will house three children at a time so they can receive more individual, tailored care and support.
Council leader Jim Robbins underscored the importance of this initiative. A new purpose-built children’s home would give the council greater scope to reunify looked-after children with their community in Swindon, he said.
“Having a children’s home of our own will allow us to bring more of our looked-after children back to Swindon instead of placing them outside the borough.” – Jim Robbins
He went on to explain the value of such an effort, insisting that this would go a long way in improving these children’s quality of life.
“This will mean the children will be closer to their friends and schooling and their family – and it will save the council costs on placements outside the borough.” – Jim Robbins
With the £700,000 that has been set aside, the council plans to purchase an existing home to begin. Otherwise, they can spend it on building a new space. This flexibility in funding is what makes it possible to take an individual, child-centered approach to each of these kids.
Count Robbins among those hoping this new initiative will produce some exciting things. If it is successful, there’s a good chance the council will increase its ownership of additional children’s homes in the future.
“If this proves our thinking right, and provides the expected benefits, we might look at doing this again and having the council own more of its own children’s homes.” – Jim Robbins
