Children's Services
National Care Association supports its children’s home sector members through the provision of a range of member benefits and resources, through its active engagement in lobbying government and ensuring that children’s home members are given a voice on all important public bodies in England and Wales whose work affects the day to day operation of children’s homes.
2009 through 2010 promises to bring many more changes to our sector. National Care Association represents its membership across all the areas which impact on the provision of services. We champion high quality services and support members with information and networks that may be helpful in providing a high quality service, and we ensure that the children’s residential sector has a voice in the wider world. We have had a strong focus on commissioning issues in the last twelve – eighteen months and will continue to campaign for a level playing field, a recognition of the value of a range of providers, large and small to maintain choice and quality of placements and a transparent approach to placements and decision making.
National Care Association has a place on a the steering group for the National Framework Contract for Residential Children’s Homes, is on the Board of the National Centre of Excellence in Residential Child Care, maintains close links with other sector provider representative organisations and meets regularly senior officials at DCSF and Ofsted.
Why join the National Care Association?
- Information
- Representation
- Resources
- Networking
- Support
Make sure you are kept up to date with all the important developments affecting your work and your business.
Ensure that your voice is heard in the important debates that will be taking place, and feel confident that National Care Association’s twenty years of experience and success lobbying government on important sector issues will support you to continue providing the services you are passionate about.
Access resources and services that will benefit your business at specially discounted rates negotiated by National Care Association.
Benefit from regional meetings and an annual national conference providing opportunities for networking, peer support and top class presentations on the most up to date changes affecting your sector.
National Care Association aims to support its members to provide children and young people with the best possible quality of service, by strengthening the voice of the children’s residential sector, providing members with access to key information and resources, and campaigning to ensure that regulatory mechanisms operate effectively and transparently for the improvement of services and the protection and safeguarding of vulnerable clients. We will work with Government and associated bodies to ensure that the bureaucracy associated with the provision of residential children’s service is proportionate, appropriate and equitable.
"Changing Times"
2010 brings many changes to our sector. Following publication of the Guidance and Regulations associated with the Children Act 2008, all part of this Act will be fully implemented. This Act brings into place, among other things, a duty on local authorities to provide ‘sufficient’ placement options within their own boundaries to meet the needs of most of their looked after population. This brings new opportunities for partnership, as well as a need to reconfigure for some organisations that have become reliant on placements from far afield, without offering any particular specialism.
The New National Minimum Standards will be in force from the Spring. National Care Association is currently compiling a response to the consultation version of the standards, which are available at http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/consultations.
Also due for publication in consultation form early in 2010 are the guidelines form NICE/SCIE on the emotional and physical health of looked after children. Details will be shared with members as soon as these become available. You can follow the progress of the NICE working group which is developing these guidelines at http://guidance.nice.org.uk/PHG/Wave17/24
We also have a rapidly evolving workforce agenda to keep up to date with and details are still awaited for the timetable for introducing professional development standards and Foundation degrees for the residential child care workforce. More details from http://www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/social-care/professional-standards-for-residential-child-care-workers.
At the end of 2009, NCA conducted a survey which looked at current commissioning practices, relationships between providers and commissioners and the impact on sustainability for the residential child care sector. The resulting report ‘Every Budget Matters’ is now available to download. Any discussion of the relationship between purchasers and providers in a difficult and evolving marketplace will inevitably include a consideration of cost and pricing. What is a fair and reasonable price for the service being provided? How do we come to a joint understanding across the sector of the role we want residential child care to play in services for looked after children, how do we agree and measure the quality of inputs and outcomes? What should the market for children’s residential services look like if is to best meet the needs of the most vulnerable children in our society? Are social work skills being marginalised in the placement process? These were the themes, together with a concern that current arrangements are ineffective at meeting the needs of many looked after children, that emerged throughout the survey. Download copy of Every Budget Matters Here.
Members are kept up to date with all of these developments through our regular newsletters and regional seminars.
