Residential care for children and young people

Residential care is provided for looked after children either on a full time or a respite basis. Residential units are run by paid, child care professionals. For some young people residential care is a preferred choice of placement, for others there are insufficient foster carers available. Most residential units are small, with five to eight beds, and the young people who stay there take part in all the normal activities in their community. However, we have two secure units for young people who are deemed a risk to themselves and others and a residential school for boys.

We strive to help our children and young people achieve the best they can in terms of their health, education and all aspects of their development. We are continually looking at how we can improve these areas of our work. Recent work with young people and health promotion recently won a national award for its innovative partnership approach.

Progress is reviewed regularly in terms of meeting the actual demands and needs of our children and young people. We are currently looking at making some changes to the way we shape our services and we will keep you updated on our progress. This is quite an exciting and challenging time for us. 

All our residential services are inspected by the Care Commission (and, for those with education on site, by the HMIe) and there are a well established set of standards that we must meet. These inspections take place twice a year - once on an announced basis and once in an unannounced way. You can view them on the Care Commission website.